1. Environmental Responsibility
Term 3 Week 4-6

2. Lesson 1 Introduction to topic
Michael Jackson’s Earth Song - Environmental and pollution song (5:01)
Instruction to class: Watch the video and jot down in your work books any environmental hazards which are depicted in the video. Provide feedback at the end of the video.
What message did you get from the video?

3. TOPIC: I SAW What I think about what I saw I HEARD
I SAW
What I think about what I saw
I HEARD
What I think about what I heard
HOW I FEEL NOW

4. Definition of terms Class Discussion (5 min)
What does “Healthy” mean to you?
What does the word “Environment” mean to you?

5. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the terms mean the following: Environmental health addresses all the physical, chemical, and biological factors external to a person, and all the related factors impacting behaviours. ... It is targeted towards preventing disease and creating health-supportive environments.

6. Environmental health is any issue that may have a negative effect on human health.
In order for an environment to be healthy, it needs to be assessed, monitored for change and progress, and current problems need to be sorted. This includes anticipating and identifying potential environmental health hazards.

7. Look at the image below and discuss

8. how does the issue impacts our health.
Activity (15 min)
In your group discuss and brainstorm:
ONE issue below:
Issues:
1. Air pollution
2. Inadequate sanitation, water
3. Chemicals
(feedback after 5 min)
how does the issue impacts our health.

9. 4. Radiation
5. Community noise
6. Occupational risks
7. Agricultural practices
8. Built environments
9. Climate change

10. Possible answers
Air pollution: breathing in toxic chemicals leads to asthma, cancers, respiratory issues.
Inadequate sanitation, water: disease, illness, death.
Chemicals: neurological diseases, health issues, illness, death.
Radiation: health issues, cancers, death.
Community noise: stress, division, conflict.

11. Occupational risks: death, illness, being maimed e. g
Occupational risks: death, illness, being maimed e.g. mining accidents, inhaling chemicals.
Agricultural practices: crop spraying, over farming can lead to disease and land degradation.
Built environments: no water run off, no recreational places, destruction of wetlands, flooding.
Climate change: food shortages, flooding, fires, weather changes, extinction of species etc.

12. Think about the image on slide 7 above :
Have you ever thought that environmental health relates to the:
soil
the air and to the
water around us and that most of the time, we cannot see the contamination in these elements or in our food?

13. Can you think of any environmental hazards in your community, province?
Activity: (10 min)
Brainstorm these and write these down in your work books.
How do these hazards impact your life, your community?
Provide feedback to the class.

14. Possible answers: Environmental hazards in South Africa
Pollution (air, water, open spaces)
Land degradation (too much erosion)
Solid waste pollution
Acid drainage
Deforestation
Rapid urbanisation
Increasing scarcity of resources
Lack of affordable housing
Lack of clean drinking water. Any others?

15. These, along with climate change, globalisation, air pollution and poverty are important concerns.

16. Activity: Discussion (Work books)
In which ways are climate change a challenge to our health?
Why is waste management a major problem?

17. Answers to questions
Climate change is a challenge to health in that as the climate changes, food shortages occur and this can affect our health negatively.
Waste management is a major problem because our landfills are getting too full and some foods which could be put in the compost are rotting on the landfill, causing diseases.

18. Image of overflowing landfill

19. Communicable diseases are diseases like measles, German measles, polio, mumps, whooping cough. These need to be immunised otherwise they spread and children who don’t have access to clinics are vulnerable to these diseases.
Malaria is also a disease carried by certain types of mosquitoes and is a problem in certain parts of South Africa.