National Cholesterol Awareness Month

September is National Cholesterol Awareness Month. Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like substance found in the bloodstream and in all your body's cells. Your body makes all the cholesterol it needs. The saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol you eat may raise your blood cholesterol level. Having too much cholesterol in your blood may lead to increased risk for heart disease and stroke. About half of American adults have levels that are too high (200 mg/dL or higher) and about 1 in 5 has a level in the high-risk zone (240 mg/dL or higher).

The good news is that you can take steps to control your cholesterol.

Cholesterol and other fats can't dissolve in your blood. To travel to your cells, they use special carriers called lipoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is often called "the bad kind." When you have too much LDL cholesterol in your blood, it can join with fats and other substances to build up in the inner walls of your arteries. The arteries can become clogged and narrow, and blood flow is reduced.

If this buildup of plaque ruptures, a blood clot may form at this location or a piece may break off and travel in the bloodstream. If a blood clot blocks the blood flow to your heart, it causes a heart attack. If a blood clot blocks an artery leading to or in the brain, a stroke results.

A "good kind" of cholesterol, on the other hand, is called high-density lipoprotein (HDL). It carries harmful cholesterol away from the arteries and helps protect you from heart attack and stroke. It's better to have a lot of HDL cholesterol in your blood.

ProQuest has created a collection of more than 30 Health & Fitness CourseCart learning activities to help teachers and students go beyond textbook learning and integrate 21st Century inquiry-based learning. Too often, Health textbooks are obsolete or non-existent requiring students and teachers to use open Internet searching (details) to find current and relevant materials. Too often, this wastes classroom and library time in searching and wastes teacher time in supervising those searches for inappropriate or irrelevant resources.

ProQuest CourseCarts solve this problem for teachers and students by providing collections of BookCart learning activities that address major topics and issues related to Health & Fitness courses of study and state standards. ProQuest provides a learning activity related to cholesterol management: "Diets for Optimal Health."

This learning activity and all the other CourseCart learning activities in the collection can be copied by first opening eLibrary CE Teacher Edition and then by clicking the CourseCart using our hyperlinked titles here (PDF).

CourseCarts save time and provide teachers with the flexibility to make inquiry-based learning activities at a variety of points in a course when it's appropriate. Each Cart provides examples of essential questions that help students develop 21st Century critical thinking skills, student directions that guide the research process, an option for call numbers to related print resources, an optional quiz, a 21st Century literacy standard, and ProQuest models for written reports and presentations. You won't find this combination of inquiry-based learning activity support in one place in any other K-12 resource.

• Open eLibrary CE TEACHER EDITION.
• Click BOOKCART ADMIN link at the top.
• Click the PROQUEST CARTS tab (800 ProQuest models).
• Type "Diets for Optimal Health" in the Search box.
• Click the COPY icon in the ACTIONS column to the right of the title.
• Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS tab to end the copying process.

Librarians or teachers can edit this BookCart to customize it for their students.

To edit this BookCart:

• Click the new BookCart TITLE with the prefix "COPY OF".
• Delete "Copy of" and then type your name in the AUTHOR boxes and your initials in the EMAIL box (required filler info).
• Option: Edit any ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS for your students in the DESCRIPTION box.
• Option: Edit the existing STUDENT DIRECTIONS in the Description box.
• Scroll down and click SAVE.
• Click RETURN TO MY LOCAL CARTS and view your new student learning activity.

A complete listing of more than 100 ProQuest Health & Fitness Carts (PDF) is available for you to copy.

You can copy, edit, and adapt these models to differentiate instruction for your students. Learn how to copy or create BookCart learning activities.

Good news! Reviewing and copying hundreds of ProQuest model BookCart learning activities has been made more convenient by using our new hyperlinked titles list (PDF) organized by curriculum area.

Students need to learn more about diets and maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. Assign students to complete a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources. Or students may choose a PowerPoint report of at least two minutes and seven slides.

Type "Cholesterol" in the Search box > Sort Results list by DATE > Search

Students should address the following essential questions for critical thinking in writing their report or creating their presentation.

• What is HDL and LDL and how do you maintain healthy levels in your body?
• What are the major diseases associated with high cholesterol?
• What are some of the major causes of unhealthy cholesterol levels?
• What are some diets that help maintain healthy or reduce unhealthy cholesterol levels?
• What are some drugs that people can use when diets alone can't maintain healthy cholesterol levels and what are the hazards of their use?

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Teachers may also be interested using this free (registration required) tool for creating a variety of printed resources including quizzes.

Your students can use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

The birth and proliferation of the "Tea Parties" around the United States during the last two years has created new interest and discussion of the Constitution. History has become more important again as each side debates the "inalienable rights" granted to Americans by this living document. These debates are most often through speeches and editorial in the form of essays.

Assign students to learn more about the power of essays, speeches, and editorials affecting history. Assign students to read the Study Page, "Social Studies and History." Students should then address one of the three Study Questions at the end of the page and write an essay of at least 150 words.

As mentioned above:

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Teachers may also be interested using this free (registration required) tool for creating a variety of printed resources including quizzes.

Today's political climate is arguably the most polarized in American history. During previous times in our history, the freedom of the press carried with it greater ethical responsibility accompanied by the risk of libel and/or slander lawsuits that helped keep political news and opinion in balance and in check for accuracy of facts.

The expansion of the Internet with minimal regulation allows almost any person or group to say anything without regard to factual accuracy and without risk of liability. This has led to a culture of extremism in reporting the new and offering opinions which both Democratic and Republican politicians and their supporters have used to "confuse through spin" rather "enlighten" the American public and potential voters. With a daily dose of this negativism, it's no wonder that the public opinion polls show the total lack of respect for Congress and the President.

Have students learn more about the history of the press and media and their role in informing the public about issues that determine elections. Student should use the pathfinder listed below for access resources for this report. Student should write a report of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources and addresses the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can add or substitute others):

Click the Study Units tab > Type "mass media" in the Study Unit Title box > Click the "Development of Mass Media" link > Locate the following resources:

• Public opinion and the public press
• What part do the media play in our lives?
• The Power of the Press
• How Vast the Wasteland Now?
• The Massless Media
• Who Will Control the Internet?

Students should address the following essential questions for critical thinking in writing their report or creating their presentation.

• What responsibility does the press and other media have in publishing news and opinion?
• What rights do readers/viewers of the press and media have?
• How does the media type and variety influence public opinion?
• How are product advertisers and political advertisers held accountable for facts and opinions?
• Has the use of the Internet educated of confused the public?

As mentioned above:

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Teachers may also be interested using this free (registration required) tool for creating a variety of printed resources including quizzes.

Your students can use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Find out more about all of ProQuest's research tools...