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Tribal Lead Curriculum

Lead Awareness in Indian Country: Keeping our Children Healthy!

The Lead Awareness in Indian Country: Keeping our Children Healthy! Curriculum is a robust set of educational tools that provide practical, on-the-ground, community-based resources to reduce childhood lead exposure in communities. The Curriculum creates a starting point to hold informed conversations within communities to teach parents and caregivers about lead. The Curriculum also empowers individuals to act within their own homes to protect their children and communities from potential lead exposure.

EPA designed the Curriculum with over 200 tribal partners to:

  • Raise awareness in tribal communities (and other interested communities) about childhood lead exposure;
  • Expand understanding of lead’s potential impacts on children’s health and cultural practices; and
  • Encourage actions that can be taken to reduce and/or prevent childhood lead exposure.  

On this page:

​Curriculum Materials

The Curriculum materials are designed to be taught by community leaders with experience educating and training members of their community but does not require instructors to be experts on lead or lead exposure. These community leaders may include teachers, outreach specialists, educators, environmental staff, social workers, community health workers and youth leaders.

Each module includes a:

  • Lesson plan - a detailed guide on how to teach information in each module;
  • Presentation slides - the main tool used to deliver the lesson plan to participants; 
  • Worksheet - an interactive tool to facilitate discussion and review significant concepts;
  • Key messages - an outline of main points of information for participants to remember;
  • Kids activity sheet - a handout for elementary school children that present easier to understand concepts from each lesson plan; and
  • Appendices - supplemental information to assist instructors.

Explore and download Curriculum materials individually by using the table below. Or check out and use the Curriculum Guidebook, which combines all materials, except presentation slides, into one document. 

Lead Awareness in Indian Country: Keeping our Children Healthy! Curriculum Materials
Section Description Materials for Download

Introductory Materials

Young boy running through a grassy field.

This section provides information on how to use materials within each module to teach the Curriculum in your community.

Module 1: Understanding Lead

Man and young boy peeling bark from a tree.

Module 1: Understanding Lead - educates participants on potential sources of lead exposure, and lead’s impacts and health effects on humans, wildlife, the environment and cultural practices.

Module 2: Effective Cleaning Techniques

Man mopping the floor in a classroom.

Module 2: Effective Cleaning Techniques - explains and demonstrates cleaning techniques recommended to reduce household lead dust and potential lead exposure in the home.

Module 3: Personal Hygiene and Nutrition

Young child putting food in their mouth.

Module 3: Personal Hygiene and Nutrition - focuses on how good personal hygiene habits and healthy nutritional practices may limit absorption of and reduce exposure to lead in children.

Module 4: Hiring Certified Lead Professionals

Picture of two people wearing protective coveralls standing on a scaffold on the outside of a house.

Module 4: Hiring Certified Lead Professionals - informs participants on what to do if a home, child care facility or preschool built before 1978 contains lead-based paint.

Appendices

Healthy foods.

Provides supplemental information to aid instructors.

Acknowledgements

People listening to a session of the Tribal Lead Curriculum.

Recognition of major contributors.

Additional Resources

Image of first slide from Train-the-Trainer Webinar presentation.

Additional resources and materials for community leaders interested in modifying the Tribal Lead Curriculum for their community. Train-the-Trainer Webinar Slides

Outreach Materials

Circle infographic with 8 images of actions to reduce lead exposure
Click on the image to download the Actions to Reduce Potential Lead Exposure Infographic for your own use.
The Actions to Reduce Potential  Lead Exposure Infographic (Infographic) is a visual aid designed to show participants actions they can take to lower and prevent their family’s potential exposure to lead. These eight actions are highlighted and discussed throughout the Curriculum:

  1. Keep Homes Clean & Dust Free.
  2. Eat a Diet High in Iron, Calcium & Vitamin C.
  3. Wash Hands.
  4. Play in Grass.
  5. Hire Certified Lead Professionals.
  6. Shower & Change.
  7. Wash Toys, Pacifiers & Bottles.
  8. Run Your Water.

The Infographic is a flexible communications tool that can be used by instructors and communities to:

  • Announce the Curriculum – Use the Infographic on flyers.
  • Evaluate Learning – Use the Infographic to check knowledge and reiterate actions.
  • Remind Participants – Use the Infographic as part of follow-up actions to remind participants how to take actions that may prevent potential exposure to lead. 
  • Inform Non-participants – Use the Infographic as a stand-alone resource to educate the community about preventable actions that can be taken to reduce potential lead exposure.

Use the outreach materials for promoting the Curriculum in your community:

Upcoming Presentations and Trainings

Attend an upcoming presentation or training to learn how to use the Curriculum to teach your community:

  • Wednesday, April 28, 2021, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm EDT: Train-the-Trainer Webinar - An informative session for community leaders to learn how to use the Curriculum.
  • Wednesday, May 12, 2021, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm EDT: Train-the-Trainer Webinar - An informative session for community leaders to learn how to use the Curriculum.

Past presentations:

  • Tuesday, October 27, 2020, at 1:00pm ET: Tribal Children’s Health Web Series - An informational session on the Curriculum, hosted by the Eight Northern Indian Pueblos Council. 
  • Tuesday, November 10, 2020, at 1:00pm ET: Virtual Roundtable Discussion - An interactive session with partners to discuss how they used the Curriculum. 
  • Wednesday, January 13, 2021, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET: Train-the-Trainer Webinar - An informative session for community leaders to learn how to use the Curriculum. A PDF of the Presentation Slides is available.
  • Wednesday, February 10, 2021, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm ET:  Train-the-Trainer Webinar - An informative session for community leaders to learn how to use the Curriculum. A PDF of the Presentation Slides is available.
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