DNRP > SWD > Education & schools assistance > Hazardous waste schools program > Hazards on the Homefront teacher's guide

Hazards on the Homefront teacher's guide

Teacher's Guide (enlarge image)

Hazards on the Homefront: A Teacher's Guide to Household Hazardous Waste contains hands-on lessons on how our health and the environment are affected by household hazardous products, and how proper disposal of these products and the use of safer alternatives can help protect us. The lessons encourage students to apply academic skills and subjects to real-life situations.

Two versions of the guide are available – one for teachers of grades 4-6 and one for teachers of grades 6-12. The secondary version was updated in 2009 under a joint project with the Washington Department of Ecology and with funding from U.S. EPA. The elementary version was updated in 2010.

Each lesson

• focuses on a particular goal for household hazardous waste management.
• addresses Washington State essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs) and grade level expectations (GLEs) in the areas of reading, writing, communication, math and science.
• identifies applicable Multiple Intelligences to assist teachers in accommodating the various needs and talents of their students.
• specifies the lesson duration, relevant vocabulary, necessary materials and community resources for each lesson.
• provides flexibility with regard to lesson variety and length.

While the two versions are similar, the 6-12 guide focuses on the personal use of hazardous products and provides additional lessons on health and advertising. The 4-6 guide organizes the HHW concepts around the theme of a Pacific Treefrog.

Both the elementary and secondary guides can be downloaded in their entirety or by individual lessons on the Washington Department of Ecology Web site (external).

Watch a video (YouTube) that demonstrates how to teach Lesson 1: Household Hazardous Products from the Hazards on the Homefront teacher guide for grades 4-6.

An extension of Lesson 6 for secondary students is available here:

• Consumer Choice – Pest Investigation for Secondary Students (PDF, 397 K)
  In this Hazards on the Homefront Lesson 6 Extension, students learn about integrated pest management and solve a common pest problem.

The following lessons from the guide are adapted for English Language Learners:

• Lesson Two – Label Reading (PDF, 645 K)
• Lesson Four – Disposal (PDF, 533 K)
• Lesson Five – Safer Alternatives (PDF, 1.4 MB)
• Product Photographs (PDF, 1 MB)

top of page