Amie’s Story

Environmental Health Question: Exercise-induced asthma

Related Standards

Lesson Plans

Story Synopsis

Story Pause Points

Story Glossary

Reference Materials from Story

Links

Amie’s Story

Amie was delighted with her job at Reps. She had always enjoyed tanning, and running the tanning booths there was her ideal job. One day, she finds a strange-looking crusty thing on her arm. Of course, it bothers her, yet she prefers to hide it with a bandage rather than see a doctor to try to find out what's wrong.

Finally, with the urging of her friends and her aunt, she sees a doctor and finds out she has squamous cell cancer, which can be treated. However, this incident changes her life. She starts using tanning gels and wants to approach Maggie about replacing the tanning beds at Reps with spray booths for safer "tanning." She gives up this idea when Maggie announces that she is considering laying off staff to pay for the lead removal in the building she wants to expand into.

But, what can she do when an old friend of hers wants to come in and tan? Should she warn her about the dangers of tanning and, in doing so, possibly lose another needed Reps customer?

The students offer their opinions on what Amie should do.

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Story Pause Points

We strongly suggest that you allow students to complete the entire story the first time they engage in this interactive. However, we have divided the story into several sections so you or your students can revisit parts of the story to reinforce or clarify story content and to facilitate class discussions. You can reach each of these "pause points" by using special URL links.

Use the following links to move between these sections of the story:

Section 1	Amie introduces her story. As a tanning lover, she considers herself very lucky to have found a job at Reps managing the tanning booths. Her life seemed just about perfect to her, with a caring boyfriend and a supportive aunt. One day, she notices a strange-looking crusty thing on her arm. (Scenes 1 - 7) http://enviromysteries.thinkport.org/insidestories/home.html?load=amie1
Section 2	Amie is aghast. She has always been proud of her looks. Now, she hides the "crusty thing" by wearing long sleeves, or covering it with a bandage. She checks out the manual for her tanning booth to see if that might have something to do with her blemish, but is assured by the pro-tanning propaganda she reads there. One night at dinner, her bandage falls off, and her friends express their concern. Frankie had a friend with a sore like Amie's that turned out to be cancer. Amie has a very restless night. (Scenes 8 - 16) A part of the tanning booth manual is available for users to read. http://enviromysteries.thinkport.org/insidestories/home.html?load=amie2
Section 3	At almost every turn, Amie is confronted with people talking about skin cancer. A reporter visiting Reps offers to send her an email link to a story she wrote about tanning. When she calls Damon to tell him African American people could get skin cancer too, he tells her that she is the one who should be the most worried. It's all too much for Amie. At her aunt's breakfast table, she breaks down. Her aunt tells her that they are going to the doctor right then. (Scenes 17 - 22) The article on a person who was treated for skin cancer is available for users to read. http://enviromysteries.thinkport.org/insidestories/home.html?load=amie3
Section 4	At the doctor's office, Amie finds out she has squamous cell skin cancer - serious, but treatable, the doctor says, and probably due to her tanning activities. At home, she and Damon review some of the web sites the doctor recommended she read. Amie decides that, if she wants to look like she has a tan, she will use tanning gels instead. (Scenes 23 - 29) The web site the doctor recommends is available for users to read. http://enviromysteries.thinkport.org/insidestories/home.html?load=amie4
Section 5	Back at Reps, Amie feels guilty about her job. After all, she is helping people do something that caused her so much pain. She secretly puts out booklets about tanning alternatives, but she needs a job and she avoids asking Maggie about replacing the tanning booths with spray booths. When she finally decides to have that talk, she is stopped in her tracks. Maggie has more pressing problems, and is even considering laying off some of the Reps people to pay for expanding the center to the building next door. Already distressed, Amie is even more upset when an old friend and her younger sister call to make an appointment to tan at Reps. Maggie needs the clients, but can she really do that to an old friend? (Scenes 30 - 39) A brochure about sun safety is available for users to read. http://enviromysteries.thinkport.org/insidestories/home.html?load=amie5
Section 6: Conclusion	The point in the story where students offer their advice about Amie's problem. (Screen 39) http://enviromysteries.thinkport.org/insidestories/home.html?load=amie6

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Story Glossary

Alternatives	Other choices or options
Asymmetry	Not symmetrical; having no central line that divides the structure into pieces that mirror each other
Basal cell cancer	A kind of skin cancer where tumors grow in the cells that line in the deepest layer of the epidermis (the outer layer of the skin)
Café	A small restaurant
Cataracts	Clouding of the lenses in the eyes, causing poor vision
Client	A customer
Controlled	Regulated or governed by specific rules
Dangerous	Unsafe or harmful
Deny	To say something isn't true
Detection	The act of finding or discovering something
Diagnosed	Correctly identified the cause of a patient's condition
Diameter	The length of an imaginary straight line that stretches from one edge of a tumor, through its center, to the opposite edge.
Dihydroxyacetone (DHA)	A harmless skin dye that reacts with amino acids in the skin to produce a temporary tan
Disfigurement	The act of damaging the way something looks
Disgusting	Highly revolting; sickening
Excessive	Beyond the normal limits
Exhausted	Tired; worn out
Exposure	Contact with
Fatal	Causing death
Guilty	Feeling as if you were responsible for doing something wrong
Immune system	The body system that defends you against disease and invasion from other foreign substances, such as bacteria.
Increase	Grow in size, amount, number, or intensity
Intense	Stronger; to a greater degree
Investing	Spending money now to gain a reward in the future
Manual	A book of instructions; a guide
Melanin	A substance that gives skin its color (also called pigment)
Melanocytes	The cells in the epidermis that produce melanin (the substance that gives skin its color)
Melanoma	A very serious skin cancer that begins as a tumor in the cells that produce melanin
Multiply	Increase or grow in number
Non-melanomas	Skin cancers other than melanoma
Ozone layer	The layer of the atmosphere that absorbs some of the ultraviolet rays from the sun
Penetrate	Go into
Premature	Happening before the usual time
Prevent	Stop from happening
Primary	Chief; most important
Publicity	Materials that attract public attention
Recommended	Suggested as worthwhile
Regulations	Rules about procedures to follow
Reminder	Something that helps you remember something you need to do
Scars	Marks left on the skin as a result of injury
Spa	A place where you can go to relax, exercise, lose weight, get massages, or tan
SPF (Sun Protection Factor)	A rating given to sunscreens
Squamous cell cancer	A kind of skin cancer where tumors grow in squamous cells, which are the cells that make up most of the epidermis, or the outer layer of the skin
Sunscreen	A substance that protects the skin by blocking out some of the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun
Supportive	Encouraging; helpful; providing mental and physical assistance and support
Temporary	Lasting only a short time
Treatable	Capable of being cured by medical treatment
Tumor	An abnormal growth in body tissues that form a mass
Ultraviolet	The invisible part of the light spectrum that has wavelengths that are shorter than violet light
Unexpected	Surprising; unpredicted
UVA rays	Rays of ultraviolet light from the sun that have the shortest wavelength. These rays damage the inner parts of the skin. Most sunscreens do not block UVA rays.
UVB rays	Rays of ultraviolet light from the sun that can be blocked from damaging the skin by sunscreens. These rays damage the outer layers of the skin.
UVC rays	Rays of ultraviolet light from the sun that have the shortest wavelengths and can cause the most damage to our skin. Molecules in the atmosphere absorb all of the UVC rays from the sun.
Weird	Strange; eerie

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Story Reference Materials

The reference materials are all in PDF format. You will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer to open the files. You can download the free plugin on Adobe's web site.

Tanning Bed Manual

Newspaper Article

Cancer 101 Website

Sun Safety Brochure

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Links to More Information on Skin Cancer

KidsHealth Unit on Skin Cancer
From the nonprofit Nemours Foundation, KidsHealth offers a variety of reproducible backgrounders on skin cancer and tanning, together with suggested classroom activities.

Skin Cancer Modules
The CDC’s EXCITE Project has created these 14 modules (plus Skin Cancer Glossary) to help build awareness of this environmental health problem. It could be used as a self-guided tutorial to help students investigate this issue.

It’s A Bright and Beautiful Day… Protect Yourself
This Thinkport lesson plan provides explicit instruction and a wealth of resources to help you explore this topic with your students.

Conversation With Miss Maryland: Even Teens Can Get Skin Cancer
Miss Maryland 2006, Britanny Lietz, was diagnosed with melanoma at age 20 – a result, she thinks, of her obsession with tanning.

Patient Profile: Brittany Lietz, Miss Maryland 2006
Brittany Lietz of Edgewater, Md., just wanted to look tan for her senior prom. She didn’t count on a life-altering brush with skin cancer.

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