Open Wide and Trek Inside

  • Helps students understand major concepts related to oral health
  • Grades 1–2 | © 2000 | Standards based
  • Six lessons designed to be taught in sequence for two to three weeks, featuring web-based components including interactive database and simulations
  • Developed using the BSCS 5E Instructional Model
  • This complimentary module is available from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

By focusing on the science of the oral environment, Open Wide and Trek Inside goes beyond the traditional “brushing and flossing” curriculum and presents to students the ways science has helped people understand how to take proper care of their mouths and the structures within. As students ask and answer questions about their mouths, they model the process scientists use to find out more about the natural world. Additionally, the students learn the importance of scientific research and are encouraged to think about the relationships among knowledge, choice, behavior, and human health. The personal context of the module’s lessons is engaging for students, and the knowledge gained by participating can be applied immediately to students’ lives.

This curriculum supplement with CD-ROM was funded by the National Institutes of Health Office of Science Education (NIH OSE). It was developed by BSCS in cooperation with the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, part of the NIH, and Videodiscovery, Inc. of Seattle.

Student Lessons

  1. What Do Mouths Do?
  2. Open Wide! What’s Inside?
  3. Let’s Investigate Tooth Decay!
  4. What Lives Inside Your Mouth?
  5. What Keeps Your Mouth Healthy?
  6. What Have You Learned about the Mouth?

To order your complimentary copy of this supplement or for more information, visit the NIH OSE website.