Topic 2:
Social Inquiry
WHAT IS THE CORONAVIRUS?
Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.
Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment. Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.
The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face. The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes.
Understanding the Global Scale of COVID-19
Click the link above to find out more about the impact of the coronavirus as a mild, severe and critical disease.
Click the link above to find out more on what the coronavirus is and what are it's symptoms.
Activity One: Designing a Public Service Announcement
In our first activity you are going to design a public service announcement so that you can inform the public about the coronavirus, and what they can do to prevent the virus from spreading.
Step One: Read through the two news articles above: One is focused on what the coronavirus
Step Two: Decide on which information you want to include in your Public Service Announcement.
Ancient Pandemics: The viruses of the past
The Black Death
The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence, the Great Plague was the most devastating pandemic recorded in human history, resulting in the deaths of up to 75-125 million people.
The Black Death is estimated to have killed 30% to 60% of Europe's population. It took 200 years for Europe's population to recover to its previous level. Outbreaks of the plague recurred until the early 20th century.
The Spanish Flu
The Spanish flu, also known as the 1918 flu pandemic, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic.
Lasting from January 1918 to December 1920, it infected 500 million people – about a quarter of the world's population at the time.
Case Study: The Spanish Flu in NZ
In the early 21st century anxiety over the danger of Influenza A virus subtypes H5N1 (avian flu) and H1N1 (swine flu), and the COVID-19 coronavirus, has revived memories of New Zealand's worst disease outbreak, the lethal influenza pandemic that struck between October and December 1918.
In two months New Zealand lost about half as many people to influenza as it had in the whole of the First World War. No event has killed so many New Zealanders in such a short time.
In this mini-research task you are going to investigate into New Zealand's response to the Spanish Flu outbreak after World War One.
Read through this website from New Zealand History: CLICK HERE
There are 10 Sections to this website which will allow you investigate into how the New Zealand government responded to the deadly influenza strain - 100 years ago.
2. Once you have completed reading and watching the sources - go to Hapara: My Student Dashboard (more instructions on how to access Hapara are at the top of the web page)
From there you can complete the Activity Three Question sheet.
The Science of the Coronavirus
How to does a new virus appear, how does it spread and why does it damage our bodies? In this section we will examine the science behind the Coronavirus - and how it was able to develop and mutate until it became the global pandemic it is today.
Answer your most commonly asked questions - and research more into the likely causes as to how it transferred from animals to humans
The scientific evidence currently suggests that the coronavirus developed in nature - but what is that evidence?
Activity Three: The Science of the Virus
After reading through the two above articles, write your opinion - based directly on evidence taken from the articles - on where the coronavirus originated from, and how it was able to spread so rapidly throughout the globe and why does the virus damage the human body.
Once you have completed reading both the sources - go to Hapara: My Student Dashboard (more instructions on how to access Hapara are at the top of the web page).
Lock Down, Self-Isolation and Vaccine Passes
Describe the social action of Isolation and boarder lock down within the context of the coronavirus outbreak, including the key features of the action.
A lockdown is a requirement for people to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks to themselves or to others if they can move freely. The term "stay-at-home" is often used for lockdowns that affect an area, rather than specific locations.
So what does Lockdown look like in New Zealand?
Alert Level 4 — Lockdown
Likely that disease is not contained.
Risk assessment
Community transmission is occurring.
Widespread outbreaks and new clusters.
Range of measures that can be applied locally or nationally
People instructed to stay at home in their bubble other than for essential personal movement.
Safe recreational activity is allowed in the local area.
Travel is severely limited.
All gatherings cancelled and all public venues closed.
Businesses closed except for essential services, such as supermarkets, pharmacies, clinics, petrol stations and lifeline utilities.
Educational facilities closed.
Rationing of supplies and requisitioning of facilities possible.
Reprioritisation of healthcare services.
A report on what lockdown looked like in New Zealand, and what we the purposes of the different rules of lockdown.
An article reviewing the goal of obtaining herd immunity, whether it is possible and whether it is preferable to a nationwide lockdown - looking at an example from the United States.
Key Terms - Social Actions, Rights, and Responsibilities
Social action refers to the ways that people participate in shaping society for the common good.
Rights relate to contested ideas between individuals/groups/society(s). Nations may exercise their rights through, for example, international treaties or agreements. Communities may exercise their rights through, for example, advocacy, lobbying, or protesting.
Responsibilities relate to obligations of or duties on individual(s)/group(s). These can be interpreted in different ways in different societies and cultures.
Describe a social action involves using social studies concepts and giving specific evidence to:
· describe the social action within the context of the issue, including the key features of the action
· describe points of view, values and perspectives that relate to the group(s)/individual(s) that shaped the social action
· describe how this social action enables communities and/or nations to meet responsibilities and exercise rights.
