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March 30, 2001

Environmental Contributors to Asthma
Why Can't I Breathe
Retrospect

Mary Deaguero

My curriculum extended over a four-month period, which is longer than I had originally planned. I began my presentation in October discussing outdoor and indoor pollution. We discussed the "bad ozone" in the Troposphere, as formed when motor vehicle exhaust combines with oxygen under the influence of sunlight. Students read and interpreted the pollution count on the weather page of the newspaper. We talked about the definitions of key words. I wrote information on the board a we brainstormed different kinds of pollution and the students copied the information in their journals. We put out petri dishes for 24 hours and after collecting them, we observed under a microscope, the particles found in the dishes. We did the deep breath exercise to experience the sensation of not getting enough air. Following this exercise, we discussed facts about the average number of times a person breathes in a day, processing two gallons of air per minute. Students did the exercise of drawing and labeling the bronchial tubes. As it turned out, in their science class they were studying the bronchial system at the same time. We watched the video, "Coaches Final Lesson". Student took notes as they watched the video, which they then used to participate in the discussion of the video. We invited speakers from TVI Respiratory Therapy Department to come and talk to us about Asthma. They brought excellent handouts, which the students followed during the presentation. The students learned how to use and read a Peak Flow Meter. They learned tools to manage their asthma.

These are some of the altered and expanded activities to the lesson. They did an experiment using a straw to experience breathing with difficulty. They read some short dialogues about students with asthma needing to make some decisions to take care of themselves. A day following the presentation we did a group letter to parents telling them what they learned from the presenters. Students copied the letter on their own paper and took them home to their parents/guardians. They were asked to get the letters signed and bring them back. This project was in the original lesson. We have not gone to the Internet sight for information about asthma. I still plan to do this.

While learning about asthma and how to control it the students did letter writing, note taking, reading, recalling information for a discussion, oral speaking and listening in sharing their experiences of having asthma or of someone they knew who has asthma, they learned new vocabulary words to read the dialogues, and they wrote vocabulary words to label the parts of the respiratory system.