WED-078 - Integrating Environmental Health into Mississippi’s Education Standards

Brief Abstract Summary: Learn how the Clean Air and Learning Mississippi (C.A.L.M.) initiative integrated environmental health education into Mississippi’s K–12 science and mathematics standards. Using air quality lesson plans aligned with 4th grade benchmarks, the project connected concepts of human health, sustainability, and measurement with core curriculum requirements. Attendees will gain insights into strategies for aligning public health content with academic standards, engaging educators in interdisciplinary collaboration, and creating sustainable pathways for environmental health instruction in schools.

Detailed abstract description: Integrating public health content into K–12 classrooms requires alignment with existing state education standards to ensure sustainability and adoption. The Clean Air and Learning Mississippi (C.A.L.M.) initiative collaborated with the University of Mississippi’s Center for Mathematics and Science Education and the School of Education to embed lessons on indoor air quality into Mississippi’s academic framework.

Through a detailed review of the Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards, project leaders identified 4th grade as the optimal level for integrating clean air education across both science and mathematics classrooms. In science, lessons aligned with standards addressing the human body, environmental sustainability, and the health impacts of pollutants such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In mathematics, lessons connected to standards on multiplication, measurement, area and perimeter, and geometric reasoning—allowing students to apply real-world air quality data in problem-solving activities. Supplementary alignments were also identified in 3rd grade science and 5th grade mathematics, broadening the project’s applicability across grade levels.

Curriculum Specialists and Graduate-level Education Students reviewed lesson plans to validate fit, ensuring the material was accessible and reinforced existing learning objectives. This approach allowed environmental health education to be embedded within core subject areas rather than taught as an add-on, increasing its likelihood of long-term adoption. Feedback from educators emphasized that public health education must be presented in a multidisciplinary way, integrating science, math, and health literacy allows for increased uptake, relevance, and engagement across diverse grade levels.

This presentation will share strategies for conducting curriculum alignment, highlight lessons from cross-campus collaboration, and demonstrate how public health projects can meet schools where they are by reinforcing academic priorities instead of competing with them. The model provides a pathway for sustainable integration of public health content into K–12 classrooms across the Deep South and beyond.