Why care about air quality and human health?
Air pollutants cause more than 9 million deaths annually. 1
Globally, outdoor air pollution has been recognized as a major public health concern and is estimated to have contributed: 2
500,000 lung cancer deaths
1.6 million COPD deaths
19% of all cardiovascular deaths
21% of all stroke deaths
Nearly half of all Americans live with unhealthy air. 3
Exposure to air pollutants is linked with poor asthma control in children. 4
56% of Americans want to take action to protect the environment, but they don’t know what to do. 4
Nearly 80% of Americans are heavily influenced by incorrect or outdated environmental myths. 5
What did the development process include?
Several steps were completed to identify the best lesson plans and resources based on sound evidence and pedagogical principles. These steps included:
performing a needs assessment and environmental scan
retrieving and reviewing existing resources/lesson plans
blueprinting of the lesson plans to the Colorado curriculum standards (Colorado Department of Education and Colorado Student Assessment Program)
reviewing the lesson plans/resources against criteria for effective education
reviewing and rating of the lesson plans by educators.
For additional detail and information about the developmental process please download the report, Bridging Colorado’s Youth and Educators to Environment-Human Health Research.
- Fuller, Richard, et al. Pollution and health: a progress update. June 1, 2022. The Lancet Planetary Health, Vol 6, Issue 6,
- Schraufnagel DE, Balmes JR, Cowl CT, et al. Air Pollution and Noncommunicable Diseases February, 2019.
- American Lung Association. State of the Air 2022. Accessed December 2, 2022.
- Burbank AJ, Peden DB. Assessing the impact of air pollution on childhood asthma morbidity. April 18, 2018
- Coyle, Kevin. Environmental Literacy in America. September 2005.