Assessing Toxic Risk
Developed by the Cornell Environmental Inquiry Program, Assessing Toxic Risk consists of a student edition and teacher's guide designed to enable high school students to carry out authentic research. Using organisms such as Daphnia, duckweed, and lettuce seeds, students conduct bioassay experiments to test the toxicity of environmental samples and chemical solutions. Assessing Toxic Risk was published by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and is available at 1-800-277-5300 or http://store.nsta.org.

Online resources to accompany the books

• Toxicology Discussion Board
• Student Peer Review of Research Reports
  • Archive of Completed Student Research Reports
• Student Research Challenges
• Downloadable Student Worksheets and Peer Review Forms
• Downloadable Assessment Rubrics and Test Questions 
• Input from Teachers
• Background Information and Links

More about Assessing Toxic Risk:

• Book review: NSTA Recommends
• News release
• Intended learning outcomes (PDF file)
• National Science Education Standards addressed through EI toxicology research (PDF file)
• Table of Contents for Teacher's Guide (PDF file)
• Table of Contents for Student Edition (PDF file)
• Chapter 1 of the Student Edition (PDF file)
• Example protocol (PDF file)

Assessing Toxic Risk includes:

• An overview of basic principals of toxicology and how these are used in assessing chemical risks to humans and the environment,
• Simple but authentic research protocols for testing chemical toxicity using bioassays,
• A progression of worksheets that guides students through each step of research, providing structure but flexibility in designing and conducting meaningful experiments, and
• Guidelines for integrating peer review and other collaborative knowledge-building into classroom science

Other books in the Cornell Scientific Inquiry Series
Invasion Ecology, Decay and Renewal, and Watershed Dynamics are available from NSTA. Click on the book covers below for more information.

Other Environmental Inquiry Publications
Visit our publication page to find out about other curricula, conference papers, videos, websites, and peer-reviewed journal articles that have been developed through the Environmental Inquiry program.