be important later in their investigation of the cause of the defects. After reading the Request for Investigation and briefly discussing the problem, assign each student a role to play in the investigation. The roles are parents, primary care physicians, epidemiologists, and lab technicians. Supplemental Documents Title: Pretest File Name: Pretest Birth Defects.doc Description: This file is the pretest that should be given and discussed before beginning the lesson. Title: Pretest Answer Key File Name: Pretest Birth Defects – Answer Key.doc Description: This file is the answer key to the pre-test given to the students before beginning the lesson. Do not provide the students with the answers to the pretest questions, as they will be researching these topics throughout the lesson. Title: “Request for Investigation” File Name: Request for Investigation.doc Description: This file is the introductory request for investigation that should be read to the class as the background on the problem that is occurring. Title: "Investigation" Sheet File Name: Investigation Sheet.doc Description: This sheet provides a structured space for each student to use for taking notes and gathering evidence during the introduction and during their investigation. Step 2 Duration: 45 minutes Have the students get into groups with the other members of the same team (all physicians together, all parents together, etc.) and distribute to each person the group-specific file folders prepared by the teacher. During this time each student will read the information in his/her file folder, use the listed Web resources, and then discuss the information with the other members of the group (i.e., all the parents will discuss their personal experiences with each other, all the physicians will compare the case histories of their patients, etc.). Note that while the “Request for Investigation” is based on a real cluster of birth defects, the patients’ files that the students will be working on are not real data. As the students discuss their findings, they should take notes on the “Investigation Sheet” that they began during the reading of the Introduction. Physician File Folder and Resources Web Resources Title: Birth Defects: Medical Progress in the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects URL: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/bd/mp.htm Description: This Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site includes background information on neural tube defects. The “physicians” should use this information in their discussion about the birth defects mystery. Title: Birth Defects Risk Factor Series: Neural Tube Defects URL: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/birthdefects/risk/risk7-NTDS.shtm Description: This Texas Department of State Health Services Web site includes information to introduce the "physician" team members to what a neural tube defect is and some of the possible causes of NTDs. Title: National Institutes of Health: Neural Tube Defects URL: http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/464 Description: This National Institutes of Health Web site includes basic background information on the causes and treatments of neural tube defects. This site should be used by the "physicians" to gather information of what a neural tube defect is. Supplemental Documents Title: Patient File 1: Gabriella Perez File Name: Patient File 1doc Description: This file should be used by the "physician" group to gather information about one of the patients. Note that this is not real data. Title: Patient File 2: Rosa Calderon File Name: Patient File 2.doc Description: This file should be used by the "physician" group to gather information about one of the patients. Note that this is not real data. Title: Patient File 3: Gina Soberon File Name: Patient File 3.doc Description: This file should be used by the "physician" group to gather information about one of the patients. Note that this is not real data. Parent File Folder Resources Web Resources Title: Spina Bifida Association Homepage: Just the Facts URL: http://www.sbaa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=nrc_FAQ Description: This Spina Bifida Association Web page provides background on spina bifida for the “parent” group. Title: March of Dimes Diabetes and Pregnancy URL: http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/681_1197.asp Description: This March of Dimes Web site provides background information for the “parent” group on having diabetes and its effect on pregnancy. Supplemental Document Title: Parent Opinions File Name: Parent Opinions.doc Description: This file should be used by the "parent" group to gather information about the case. It includes "interviews" with community members on what they think is causing the birth defects in the area. Note that this is not real data. Epidemiologist File Folder Resources Web Resources Title: Maternal Obesity and Pregnancy: Weight Matters URL: http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/15637.asp Description: This is a PDF file from the March of Dimes about the relationship between maternal obesity and birth defects. This site is for the "epidemiologist" group to use during their research. Title: March of Dimes Diabetes and Pregnancy URL: his is a site from the March of Dimes about the relationship between diabetes and birth defects. This site is for the "epidemiologist" group to