The state-mandated NGSS-aligned curriculum motivates many teachers to bring in new resources into their classrooms. 

To support educators, EcoHealth Vector Education from San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is available to enhance science curriculum for students grades K-12.

“I’ve always wanted to do a citizen science project with my kids,” said Mrs. Bravo, science teacher at South El Monte High. “[EcoHealth] is a great opportunity...The students enjoyed doing something that’s bigger than school.”

“Many schools look for opportunities like EcoHealth to involve their students in citizen science that serve the community,” said Education Specialist Carol Anne Hagele at San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District. 

“Both, the Vector Inspector Program (VIP) and the classroom programs, shape how students think about the interdependent relationship between mosquitoes and humans. This is good for them and great for the community.”

Controlling mosquito populations in neighborhoods comes down to changing human behavior. 

Once students understand they have control over mosquitoes growing around their homes, they have control over one very important aspect of their health: Mosquito-borne disease prevention.

The San Gabriel Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District offers Vector Inspector Program (VIP) and the EcoHealth Vector Education classroom programs, free to all schools within its jurisdiction in San Gabriel Valley. 

This includes the District’s three recently added cities in Pasadena, South Pasadena and Baldwin Park.

While EcoHealth is the same insect program that teachers know and love from years past, the rebranding emphasizes the agency’s educational mission to link environmental health to human health, and to inspire critical thinking and informed action in students. 

Students can make a significant contribution, not only to their own families, but also to the whole community by reducing mosquito-borne threats around their school and at home.

“I am blown away how well aware [the students] are about stagnant water and mosquitoes,” said Mrs. Garcia, Nativity Catholic School science teacher in El Monte. 

“Students, starting with four-year-olds learned, about science instrumentation...the 7th grade connected [EcoHealth] with life sciences and viruses.”

The education specialist runs the EcoHealth programs from start to finish. This allows teachers to sit back and enjoy the show with their students!

EcoHealth is standards-based and addresses topics that include predator-prey relationships, adaptations, food chains and webs, habitat preservation, biodiversity, water quality, and climate change and the connections to human health.

If you are an educator interested in booking an NGSS-aligned EcoHealth Vector Education program, visit www.VectorEducation.org.