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Why Teach Toxicology?
Using
examples from toxicology is a great way to enrich science learning
at all grade levels. Toxicology-related subjects are frequently
in the news and in our concerns. Thinking about questions such
as "Is this product safe?" and "What evidence do
we use to determine if an environmental hazard exists?" provides
good experience in the application of the scientific process and
weighing of evidence. Since toxicology is an interdisciplinary
science drawing upon biochemistry, physiology, genetics, ecology,
health science, mathematics, statistics and many other fields,
topics in toxicology can be used in many areas of the curriculum,
even in subjects such as ethics, political science and sociology.
Teaching methods using toxicology can include laboratory activities,
case studies, simulations, discussions, and other means of actively
engaging students in learning. Even without a sophisticated toxicology
vocabulary elementary children can understand broad concepts such
as the level of dose determining the effect.
Toxicology
concepts and activities fit well with many of the science education
standards outlined in the AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literacy,
the National Science Education Standards, and state and local
curriculum standards. Examples include science as inquiry, science
as a human endeavor, the nature of scientific knowledge, life
science content such as structure and function in living systems,
regulation and behavior, organization in living systems, unifying
concepts and processes such as change, equilibrium, models and
explanations, understanding about science and technology in society,
personal health, changes in environments, natural hazards, risks
and benefits, natural and human-induced hazards.
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