Infection

Watch the classic 80's contamination movie.

Then watch the Disease Introduction slide show. During the show, write the answers to items 1-15 in your journal

Part 1: It's Catching

Read and follow directions in the Micro-Life Book p. C-4 to C-7.

Do the activity and then answer questions on the "It's Catching" assignment.

During the lab, as you're exchanging germs, listen the song, "Down with Disease."

In this activity, students shared "saliva." You may think that in real life people don't share saliva as often, yet people actually do. It is said that the average cough can spray around 3,000 tiny droplets of saliva and liquid into the air that others can breathe in. If people cough into their hands and then touch something, you can get these droplets on your hands and then touch your mouth, nose or eye.

(Click here for a more in-depth version of this lesson.)

Part 2a: Infection Tag

Play infection tag.

Or, alternatively, run part 2b:

Part 2b: Disease Challenge

We will model the impacts of disease.

Goal: collect a certain number of pieces of colored paper or chips and survive.

Procedure:

Small colored bits get scattered out into a playing area.
At the end of 10 seconds you will have had to collect enough 'food' to survive the winter. In this case, 8 pieces, and at least two of them need to be red.
As a class, we will graph how many survive after each round.
Then, in subsequent rounds, certain colors will represent certain toxins, so if you got any yellow pieces, you've been affected by a certain disease. If infected, you have to hop on one foot the next round.
In a future round, If you get a blue piece, that is a particularly beefy piece of energy and counts as double.

Debrief Questions:

Did your strategy change of how you collected chips? If so, how?
What did you notice happening to our population after our food source became contaminated with disease?
How well does this mimic real life? Provide specific examples to support your claim.

(This activity also could be used to model bio accumulation of toxins.)

Part 3a: Poison Pump

Do the Poison Pump activity.

Then watch the "Broad Street Pump" movie.

Or, alternatively, do 3b, "Who Infected Whom?"

Part 3b: Who Infected Whom?

Read and follow directions in the Micro-Life Book p. C-12 to C-16.

After reading pages 12-13, create and fill in the following table in your journal:

Table groups run the card activity in part 1 and have the teacher check work. On a whiteboard (or journal), draw a web of your hypothesis for who infected whom.

Table groups then run the lab in part 2. In your journal or on a whiteboard, draw a labeled web of who actually infected whom.

Part 4: The Plague and Leprosy

Watch the short movie on the black plague (minutes 4:30 to 14:57 - stop at 11:57 to discuss question 1).

In your journal, answer questions 1-4 in the Micro-Life Book p. C-17 to C-18.

On the topic of leprosy, read and answer questions 1-5 in the Micro-Life Book p. C-19 to C-21.

Infection Extension: History of the Germ Theory

Read the Micro-Life Book p. C-31 to C-41. Prepare for and present a skit following the guidelines on pages C-31 to C-41.

Options for All Disease Extensions (choose one):

1. Written Reflection:

1. Write a one paragraph summary of what you learned from the (resource).

2. Then, evaluate the (resource) in one paragraph. In your evaluation, give your opinion on how appropriate the material from it would be for the rest of class, judge the pros and cons of it, and predict how well students will do with the it.

3. Then, write a paragraph with a recommendation for whether the (resource) should be used by the full class in the future.

2. Creative Reflection (choose one):

Make an art project to illustrate what you learned from the (resource).
- Perform or record a skit to illustrate what you learned from the (resource).

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