Tom Jones
(Manchester - United States)I am a retired high school principal in my 3rd year of post-retirement re-employment teaching high school English.
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- From: Open Architecture Challenge
- Contributed By: Sandhya Naidu
Introduction:
You have already discussed sustainable building materials, now you will cover another kind of ecology. Toxins and poorly ventilated buildings often contribute to poor environmental health and sickness of the buildings occupants. In this lesson, students will learn about healthy buildings and how to recognize unhealthy conditions that lead to mold or other hazards.
Group Size: Any
Learning Objectives:
Gain a solid base of information and communication skills to discuss with the architect how to apply environmentally healthy elements to the classroom design.
The students will also use this investigation to explore their personal environment.
Guiding Question:
• What makes a healthy building? • What are the health risks of older buildings? • Of new buildings?
Materials:
Vocabulary: Off-gassing: (explore different closed up rooms and report if you can smell any chemicals). New building materials are often processed with heavy chemicals that are not only bad for the environment, but are chemicals that we continue to breath long after the building has been built. Mold: We all know what mold is, but did you know the conditions that support mold growth in your own classroom? Ventilation: How does fresh air enter your school?
Procedures:
Present key words and concepts. Then, present a few case studies of unhealthy classrooms around the nation. (There are tons of resources on the internet for this if you search for ‘sick schools’, but we have also included some resources of our own… see below:)
Wakefield, Julie. “Learning the Hard Way: The Poor Environment of America’s Schools.” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, No. 6 (Jun., 2002), pp. A298-A305. Accessed 7/8/08.
Katchen, Mark, Adrienne LaPierre, Cary Charlin, Barry Brucker, and Paul Ferguson. “Evaluating Potential Health Risks in Relocatable Classrooms.” Journal of School Health, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Apr. 2001), pp. 159 - 161. Accessed 7/8/08
Indoor Air Quality and Student Performance United States Environmental Protection Agency Indoor Environments Division Revised August 2003 402-K-03-006
Assessment:
Students will compare their investigation findings. Is there anything that can be done to change these situations while using the existing building? They should be able to communicate effectively the importance of reducing toxins in construction, maintaining natural airflow, and reducing mold friendly conditions.
You have already discussed sustainable building materials, now you will cover another kind of ecology. Toxins and poorly ventilated buildings often contribute to poor environmental health and sickness of the buildings occupants. In this lesson, students will learn about healthy buildings and how to recognize unhealthy conditions that lead to mold or other hazards.
Group Size: Any
Learning Objectives:
Gain a solid base of information and communication skills to discuss with the architect how to apply environmentally healthy elements to the classroom design.
The students will also use this investigation to explore their personal environment.
Guiding Question:
• What makes a healthy building? • What are the health risks of older buildings? • Of new buildings?
Materials:
Vocabulary: Off-gassing: (explore different closed up rooms and report if you can smell any chemicals). New building materials are often processed with heavy chemicals that are not only bad for the environment, but are chemicals that we continue to breath long after the building has been built. Mold: We all know what mold is, but did you know the conditions that support mold growth in your own classroom? Ventilation: How does fresh air enter your school?
Procedures:
Present key words and concepts. Then, present a few case studies of unhealthy classrooms around the nation. (There are tons of resources on the internet for this if you search for ‘sick schools’, but we have also included some resources of our own… see below:)
Wakefield, Julie. “Learning the Hard Way: The Poor Environment of America’s Schools.” Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, No. 6 (Jun., 2002), pp. A298-A305. Accessed 7/8/08.
Katchen, Mark, Adrienne LaPierre, Cary Charlin, Barry Brucker, and Paul Ferguson. “Evaluating Potential Health Risks in Relocatable Classrooms.” Journal of School Health, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Apr. 2001), pp. 159 - 161. Accessed 7/8/08
Indoor Air Quality and Student Performance United States Environmental Protection Agency Indoor Environments Division Revised August 2003 402-K-03-006
Assessment:
Students will compare their investigation findings. Is there anything that can be done to change these situations while using the existing building? They should be able to communicate effectively the importance of reducing toxins in construction, maintaining natural airflow, and reducing mold friendly conditions.
Learn more about "Environmental Health" with exercises, lesson plans, photographs, and workshop information.
Matt Miller, former design fellow with Architecture for Humanity discusses the effects of climate and weather on building including the effect of building materials on the environment. Watch full video here.
