Newswise — No animal is better at shading itself from the sun than an alligator, and for more than 10 years, University of Florida faculty members have used the wisdom of their school's mascot to teach young children about the importance of sun protection.
The GatorSHADE program was developed in 1994 to educate Florida's children and their parents about skin cancer and encourage them to make appropriate lifestyle changes to prevent the disease. Now, GatorSHADE founders have decided to share their program with the world through an interactive Web site, designed to make the GatorSHADE curriculum available to both educators and consumers.
"Skin cancer has become the No. 1 cancer found in the United States today, and Florida has one of the nation's highest incidences of the disease," said primary founder Carol Reed Ash, Ed.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., UF College of Nursing Eminent Scholar and Kirbo Endowed Chair in oncology nursing and associate director at UF Shands Cancer Center. "Yet skin cancer is one of the most easily detected and curable forms of cancer if treated early."
The new Web site, http://www.gatorshade.ufl.edu , contains interactive games and learning tools designed to make skin cancer education fun and easy, and the curricular tools allow teachers and counselors to easily integrate GatorSHADE principles into their learning plans. It was designed by Big Media Studios, Inc. in Gainesville.
"After 10 years of developing, testing and implementing the GatorSHADE program, we felt it was time to share this with those who could most benefit from it," Ash said. "Education is no longer confined to books and lectures, and today's children utilize the Internet to learn about important issues. We felt a Web site would be the best way to communicate and share our program."
The GatorSHADE program is the brainchild of Ash, who, along with Jill W. Varnes, Ed.D., the interim dean of the UF College of Health and Human Performance, launched the program at a 1994 UF football game with the distribution of GatorSHADE hats to children and information cards and SPF 30 sunscreen to all in attendance. The hats were particularly important because they contained special neck flaps that gave extra protection in a vulnerable area.
That led to the development of a complete curriculum package designed to teach elementary students about sun-safe habits and the hazards of overexposure to ultraviolet radiation. The package includes a 16-minute video, two-player board game, exercises, experiment and a take-home information packet for parents. Ash and colleagues have now made the entire curriculum package available online for children, parents and teachers. The new Web site gives kids a fun and high-tech way to learn about skin cancer prevention.
The "Reach the Beach" game allows kids to flip a virtual coin, take a turn answering a skin cancer question, and advance through colored footsteps in the sand. Whoever answers the most questions correctly will "reach the beach" first. Also included are a crossword puzzle, word search and even a science experiment involving the sun. The video, which features child newscasters reporting about sun safety, has been made available in Web format so that children may watch one segment at a time.
Educators will find the curricular materials easy to integrate into their lesson plans, Ash said. The curriculum has been proven to raise awareness through field tests at P.K. Yonge Elementary School in Gainesville and 12 Indian River County elementary schools. More than 1,100 elementary students participated in the field tests.
Among the organizations that have taken notice of the GatorSHADE program has been Florida's 4-H program, based at UF's Institute of Agricultural and Food Sciences (IFAS). The 4-H program hopes to begin using the curricular materials with children this summer at recreational camps. The organization also is exploring the production of more of the very popular GatorSHADE hats, which will feature both the trademarked GatorSHADE logo as well as the 4-H logo.
"The Florida 4-H program is working to create safe activities for youth in our outdoor programs," said Marilyn Norman, Ph.D., assistant dean for the 4-H Youth Development Program in the UF Institute of Agricultural Sciences. "Incorporating GatorSHADE into our learning activities, as well as modeling good practices in sun safety and skin protection is a part of that effort. 4-H utilizes the experimental learning process. The learning modules provided through GatorSHADEâ„¢ were both hands-on and age appropriate."
Ash and her colleagues hope that the new Web site will assist both parents and educators in teaching children about the importance of sun protection and making sure the practice lasts a lifetime.
"Overexposure to the suns rays is cumulative and begins to build in childhood. Like safe driving, safe sun practices have dramatic effects," Ash said. "For these reasons the best defense against skin cancer is prevention."
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