Your Health: The Science Inside

This booklet can be used to help students build important health literacy skills, such as understanding important preventative health measures and understanding basic health information with a goal towards utilizing it to make appropriate health decisions.

Author(s)
Healthy People Library Project
Author(s) Organizational Affiliation
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Publication Year
2012
Resource Type
Instructional Material
Number of Pages
64
Product Type
Target Audience
Abstract

Part of The Science Inside series, this booklet on biomedical research talks about how far health and scientific research has come in the last 150 years, making diseases like malaria and measles much less threatening than they once were. It discusses the role science-based research has played in combating disease and the challenges society faces in continuing that fight. It also goes into detail about clinical trials and the role volunteers play in them. Additional resources, a bibliography, and a glossary are also included.

All of the booklets in The Science Inside series can be used to help students build important health literacy skills, such as understanding important preventative health measures; understanding basic health information with a goal towards utilizing it to make appropriate health decisions; and understanding national and international public health and safety issues. Parts 1 and 2 of the booklet would be particularly helpful in instruction related to the Discovering Germs learning goals at the 6-8 level from Benchmarks for Science Literacy. The opening section presents a simple scenario that asks readers to consider changes that have resulted due to medical advances in the past 150 years. The second part goes on to discuss in more specific detail the changes that have improved the health status of modern humans, including the discovery of the role of germs, the improvement in treatment and detection of common illnesses, and the role of technology. Parts 3 and 4 are particularly helpful in studies related to the Nature of Science benchmarks. Part 3 discusses the role of science-based medicine and the development of modern medical research. Part 4 discusses the challenges that yet remain.

What the experts say

The American Association for the Advancement of Science produced the Your Health: The Science Inside series of publications as part of the Healthy People effort with the goal to improve health literacy and public understanding of science so that people can make informed decisions about their health choices and lifestyle.  The resources discuses disease and treatment from a historical perspective, describing how new discoveries and treatments have gradually given us more control over our own health. This resource not only introduces readers to the science of health but also how the scientific process works. This would be an excellent reading for GED or higher level ABE programs and ASE programs. It would be especially useful to students who are going on to post secondary in hopes of going into a health related field. It demystifies some complicated aspects of science and health.  It is written in an easy, engaging style, and it includes stories and examples.

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