Tox Town - Resources for Science Teachers

September, 2006

Overview:

> The purpose of this PowerPoint demonstration is to show users various
> National Library of Medicine (NLM) databases appropriate for teachers
> and students at the high school and college level.

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| Talking Points                                        | On-Screen    |
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| **INTRODUCTION**                                      | Slide 1      |
|                                                       |              |
| Introduce yourself.                                   | (Title Page) |
|                                                       |              |
| Today I will show you some of the web resources from  | Slide 2      |
| the National Library of Medicine (NLM) that are       |              |
| especially useful for students and teachers.          | Slide 3      |
|                                                       |              |
| Because these resources are produced by the NLM, you  |              |
| can send students to these sites with the confidence  |              |
| that they are looking at unbiased, accurate           |              |
| scientific information.                               |              |
|                                                       |              |
| You will see a complete list of these resources on    |              |
| the brochure, "Resources for Science Teachers."       |              |
|                                                       |              |
| The National Library of Medicine is located within    |              |
| the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.    |              |
| NLM works with federal agencies, public health        |              |
| institutions and international organizations to       |              |
| provide access to health and scientific information.  |              |
| As you can see from the homepage, it is a source of   |              |
| information for a variety of topics, including health |              |
| information, environmental health and toxicology,     |              |
| online exhibitions, research, training, current       |              |
| health news and press releases, as well as a variety  |              |
| of databases for the public, health care              |              |
| professionals, researchers, librarians, and           |              |
| publishers.                                           |              |
|                                                       |              |
| This presentation is organized by topic: biology,     |              |
| chemistry, earth science and environmental science,   |              |
| genetics, health, and careers.                        |              |
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| **BIOLOGY**                                           | Slide 4      |
|                                                       |              |
| The 4 databases that will be discussed under Biology  | Slide 5      |
| are: PubMed, Visible Human Project, Frankenstein, and |              |
| Visible Proofs. Frankenstein and Visible Proof are    | Slide 6      |
| online exhibits. These exhibition Web sites consist   |              |
| of multidisciplinary and diverse topics so there is   | Slide 7      |
| some overlap in the topics under which they can be    |              |
| categorized.                                          | Slide 8      |
|                                                       |              |
| **PubMed**                                            | Slide 9      |
|                                                       |              |
| This database contains over 16 million citations to   |              |
| articles in life science journals dating back to the  |              |
| 1950s. Users can enter 1 or more search terms; search |              |
| terms may be topics, authors, or journals.            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Visible Human Project**                             |              |
|                                                       |              |
| This Web site provides images of complete,            |              |
| anatomically detailed three dimensional               |              |
| representations of the normal male and female bodies. |              |
| In addition to the images, a fact sheet is also       |              |
| available.                                            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature**   |              |
|                                                       |              |
| This Web site encourages audiences to examine the     |              |
| intent of Mary Shelley's novel, *Frankenstein*, and   |              |
| to discuss Shelley's and their own views about        |              |
| personal and societal responsibility as it relates to |              |
| science and other areas of life. The online           |              |
| exhibition explores the historical context of         |              |
| Shelley's work and how the ideas, thoughts and fears  |              |
| of her time still endure in ours.                     |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body**        |              |
|                                                       |              |
| This Web site presents a collection of images and     |              |
| stories about the history and the development of the  |              |
| forensic field. The Education and Resources sections  |              |
| offer K-12 online activities, lesson plans, and       |              |
| bibliographies***.*** There is also some forensic     |              |
| career information available on this site.            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Three online activities and three lesson plans        |              |
| introduce forensic medicine, anthropology,            |              |
| technology, and history. Lesson plans include ready   |              |
| made resources for the classroom. Appropriate grade   |              |
| levels for the activities are indicated. Here is a    |              |
| copy of a sample lesson plan.                         |              |
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| **CHEMISTRY**                                         | Slide 10     |
|                                                       |              |
| The teacher resources listed under Chemistry are:     | Slide 11     |
| ChemIDplus, Toxicology Tutorials, and TOXMAP.         |              |
|                                                       | Slide 12     |
| **ChemIDplus**                                        |              |
|                                                       | Slide 13     |
| This database provides structures, molecular weight,  |              |
| toxicity information, physical properties and more    | Slide 14     |
| for approximately 370,000 chemicals.                  |              |
|                                                       | Slide 15     |
| Here you can see aspirin in 3D, which you can rotate, |              |
| and in the more usual configuration.                  |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Toxicology Tutorials**                              |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Toxicology Tutorials cover basic principles of        |              |
| toxicology, toxicokinetics, and cellular effects and  |              |
| biochemistry. They are written at the introductory    |              |
| college student level. The Toxicology Tutorials are   |              |
| intended to provide a basic understanding of          |              |
| toxicology as an aide for users of toxicology         |              |
| literature contained in the National Library of       |              |
| Medicine\'s Chemical and Toxicology databases.        |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **TOXMAP**                                            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS)       |              |
|                                                       |              |
| whose maps indicate where chemicals are released      |              |
| on-site into the air, water, and ground, and identify |              |
| the releasing facilities, single year releases, and   |              |
| chemical release trends over time.                    |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Say you want to know about ***benzene*** in Chicago.  |              |
| Type in the chemical, city, state, and/or zip code.   |              |
|                                                       |              |
| The map will show which facilities are releasing      |              |
| benzene.                                              |              |
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| **EARTH SCIENCE, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE**              | Slide 16     |
|                                                       |              |
| Under this category, we have Tox Town.                | Slide 17     |
|                                                       |              |
| **Tox Town**                                          | Slide 18     |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Tox Town is an introduction to toxic chemicals    | Slide 19     |
|     and environmental health risks using a            |              |
|     non-technical, easy-to-use format. Target         |              |
|     audience is educators, students middle school     |              |
|     level and above, and the general public.          |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   There are four "scenes" to choose from -- town,   |              |
|     city, US-Mexico border, and the farm.             |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Also take note of the link "A-Z Disasters" at the |              |
|     top of the page. Information regarding disasters, |              |
|     such as Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita, is  |              |
|     listed here.                                      |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   There is also a "For Teachers" button at the top  |              |
|     with suggested classroom activities and links.    |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Tox Town has a list of resources to turn to for   |              |
|     information on health concerns regarding toxic    |              |
|     chemicals.                                        |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Notice that there are several ways to navigate    |              |
|     your way through the City. You can click on       |              |
|     several of the locations within the city scene    |              |
|     such as the school or factory, or you can click   |              |
|     on the name of a location or chemical at the      |              |
|     bottom of the screen to see where it might appear |              |
|     in the environment. There is also sound as you    |              |
|     hover over different elements on the screen. The  |              |
|     sound can be turned off if preferred.             |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Let's click on the "rat" to see what happens.     |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   The menu on the right-hand side offers several    |              |
|     choices of information to explore related to      |              |
|     "Pests".                                          |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   You can also click on one of the substance names  |              |
|     at the bottom of the window to find out more      |              |
|     about particular chemicals. You will see links to |              |
|     information appear on the right-hand side of the  |              |
|     screen                                            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   There is also a Spanish version of Tox Town.      |              |
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| **GENETICS**                                          | Slide 20     |
|                                                       |              |
| Resources under Genetics include: Genetics Home       | Slide 21     |
| Reference and Help Me Understand Genetics.            |              |
|                                                       | Point cursor |
| **Genetics Home Reference**                           | to this      |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Students interested in genetics may find the      | Slide 22     |
|     "Genetics Home Reference" helpful.                |              |
|                                                       | \[Go back to |
| -   This site is intended to make genetics and its    | Slide 21 to  |
|     relationship to disease understandable.           | point to     |
|                                                       | this if you  |
| -   The pages about specific diseases appear in a     | want\]       |
|     question and answer format and include links to a |              |
|     geographic listing of genetic counselors and      | Slide 23     |
|     information for caregivers.                       |              |
|                                                       | Go back to   |
| -   Let's explore Usher Syndrome. Go to "Browse" and  | Slide 21 --  |
|     click on "Genetic Condition". An alphabetical     | point to     |
|     list will appear; hit the letter with which the   | "Glossary"   |
|     condition begins.                                 | under        |
|                                                       | "Browse"     |
| -   Notice the Question/Answer format in which        |              |
|     information on Usher Syndrome is presented..      |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Help Me Understand Genetics**                       |              |
|                                                       |              |
| For basic information on genetics you can click on    |              |
| the **"Help Me Understand Genetics"** link (or the    |              |
| Handbook).                                            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Another helpful section of this resource is the   |              |
|     Glossary. By clicking on the "Glossary" link you  |              |
|     will see that there is an alphabetic jump list.   |              |
|     Click on the letter and then the topic in which   |              |
|     you are interested.                               |              |
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| **HEALTH**                                            | Slide 24     |
|                                                       |              |
| Web sites to be discussed in this section include:    | Slide 25     |
| MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus en español, Evaluating       |              |
| Internet Health Information, the Special Population   | Slide 26     |
| Web sites, Household Products Database, and HIV/AIDS  |              |
| Fact Sheets.                                          | Slide 27     |
|                                                       |              |
| **MedlinePlus**                                       | Slide 28     |
|                                                       |              |
| This Web site lists over 700 health topics and        | Slide 29     |
| includes a medical dictionary, drug guides, videos,   |              |
| and tutorials. It is appropriate for all grade        | Slide 30     |
| levels. (Point to the arrows on the left)             |              |
|                                                       | Slide 31     |
| **MedlinePlus en español**                            |              |
|                                                       | Slide 32     |
| This Web site mirrors the English MedlinePlus site    |              |
| and provides relevant information in Spanish.         |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Evaluating Internet Health Information**            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| This online tutorial teaches users how to evaluate    |              |
| the health information that is found on the Web. It   |              |
| is appropriate for middle school students and up. A   |              |
| Flash plug-in is needed to view the tutorial. A free  |              |
| download of this software is available.               |              |
|                                                       |              |
| ***The Special Population Web sites -- Arctic Health, |              |
| American Indian Health, Asian American Health --***   |              |
| provide students and teachers with information        |              |
| regarding health issues affecting these specific      |              |
| communities.                                          |              |
|                                                       |              |
| H**ousehold Products Database**                       |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Students can use this database to learn about the |              |
|     health and safety of everyday products. The       |              |
|     Household Products Database contains              |              |
|     easy-to-understand information about the          |              |
|     potential health effects of more than 5,000       |              |
|     common household products you might find under    |              |
|     your kitchen sink.                                |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Let's say you want to learn about the possible    |              |
|     health effects of the cleanser you use to clean   |              |
|     the bathroom sink. If you go to the "Products"    |              |
|     section of the site, you can then look for the    |              |
|     information.                                      |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Click on "Inside the Home". You see a category    |              |
|     list from which to select.                        |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   At the top of the screen, you see there is        |              |
|     product information about the type of product it  |              |
|     is, the manufacturer and how to contact them.     |              |
|                                                       |              |
| -   Further down, you find the "Health Effects"       |              |
|     information as well as handling and disposal      |              |
|     information.                                      |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **HV/AIDS Fact Sheets**                               |              |
|                                                       |              |
| The AIDSinfo fact sheets and booklets are written to  |              |
| supplement the HIV/AIDS treatment guidelines. These   |              |
| fact sheets provide accurate information about        |              |
| HIV/AIDS and its treatment in plain language. Topics  |              |
| include general information, prevention, pregnancy    |              |
| issues, and treatment.                                |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Homework Help provides resources and reference links  |              |
| for learning and writing papers about HIV and AIDS    |              |
| for school projects.                                  |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Spanish versions of consumer fact sheets and booklets |              |
| are also available.                                   |              |
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| **CAREERS**                                           | Slide 33     |
|                                                       |              |
| Three Web sites are discussed under this heading:     | Slide 34     |
| Changing the Face of Medicine, Environmental Health   |              |
| and Toxicology Education and Career Links, and        | Slide 35     |
| Haz-Maps.                                             |              |
|                                                       | Slide 36     |
| **Changing the Face of Medicine: Celebrating          |              |
| America's Women Physicians**                          |              |
|                                                       |              |
| The lives and work of more than 300 women physicians, |              |
| from the 19^th^ century to the present day, are       |              |
| highlighted. The online exhibition provides a         |              |
| searchable database of the women physicians in the    |              |
| exhibition, films of select women, online activities  |              |
| and lesson plans, as well as career resources.        |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Environmental Health and Toxicology Education and   |              |
| Career Links**                                        |              |
|                                                       |              |
| This Web site is a collection of resources related to |              |
| toxicology and environmental health education, its    |              |
| study and teaching, career paths and opportunities,   |              |
| including accreditation, and outreach for the public. |              |
|                                                       |              |
| **Haz-Maps**                                          |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Students can choose a job and learn about its         |              |
| dangers, including hazardous agents and occupational  |              |
| diseases.                                             |              |
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| **CONCLUSION**                                        | Slide 37     |
|                                                       |              |
| As you can see, NLM offers a wealth of information    | Slide 38     |
| and resources for teachers and students. All of the   |              |
| information presented can be found on the NLM         |              |
| homepage. You may also want to remember the PDF link  |              |
| for the handout, "Resources for Science Teachers".    |              |
|                                                       |              |
| You can pass this information onto science teachers   |              |
| by giving them copies of the brochure, emailing them  |              |
| the PDF link of the brochure, or adding both the NLM  |              |
| homepage link and the pamphlet link to your Web       |              |
| sites.                                                |              |
|                                                       |              |
| If you are a school librarian, you can hold an        |              |
| in-service for science teachers to show them the Web  |              |
| sites presented today.                                |              |
|                                                       |              |
| Questions?                                            |              |
|                                                       |              |
| > Feel free to contact our office if you have         |              |
| > questions about any of the NLM resources.           |              |
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