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Classroom Resources | Activities for Episode
Four 
Episode Three: Dangerous Friends and Friendly Enemies
Activity 2: Diseases Around the World
Grades 9-12
Objectives:
- Students will investigate the disease process in current and historical
diseases around the world.
- Students will participate in a simulation to understand factors in
the transmission of disease.
- Students will interview local health officials and craft a Community
Action Plan to deal with a possible pandemic.
Ties to Broadcast and Web Sites:
- Intimate Strangers: Dangerous Friends and Friendly
Enemies
Excerpt "Frontline Warrior" to end (36:04 to 41:04).
- Influenza
Activity - United States
Excellent article and graph to show where influenza has occurred so
far this season.
- The American Experience:
Influenza 1918
Excellent source for information about the 1918 Spanish Influenza epidemic.
- Library of Congress
Enter 1918 Epidemic to search for an interesting diary entry about the
1918 epidemic.
- Health Topics A-Z
Center for Disease Control information about diseases.
- Infection,
Detection, Prevention
Informative website for students about microbes and disease. Includes
a cartoon story "How Lou Got the Flu" which traces the flu from China
to the US, information about preventing infection, and an excellent
"Mixed-up Microbe Mystery" which involves students in helping an epidemiologist
track the cause of an epidemic of salmonella in Denver in 1996.
- Cells Alive!
Interesting articles, pictures, and information about many topics.
- Digital
Learning Center for Microbial Ecology
Interesting information and student-friendly articles about microbes.
- Excellence in Curriculum
Integration through Teaching Epidemiology (EXCITE)
Website which has an excellent case study and teaching resources about
Legionnaire's disease for high school students.
- Health News
For reports of outbreaks of diseases.
- United
Nations Report on AIDS Epidemic
United Nations AIDS epidemic update, including recent statistics and
information about progress of epidemics in world.
- Plaguescape
Information about the plagues of 1545 and 1576 in Mexico. Website also
asks visitors to participate in a web contest to analyze information
about the Aztec Great Cocoliztli Plague and come up with their own theory
and story (historical novella or science-in-fiction style) to tell what
happened, who did it, why, when and where, and extend it to the Incas
of Peru.
- All
the Virology on the WWW
Host site for information about viruses.
- The
Big Picture Book of Viruses
Catalog and educational resource about viruses.
- Medicine
and Health
Includes a Science Odyssey
educator's guide for simulating a public health task force dealing with
infectious diseases at the end of the 20th century.
Procedure for Classroom Activity:
- Begin the activity by asking the class how many of them have ever
had a "flu virus." Discuss the symptoms, how flu spreads, and how it
is treated. Compare with other viruses (like chicken pox). Clarify the
differences between viruses and bacterial infections like pneumonia.
- Show the excerpt from the program Intimate Strangers:
Dangerous Friends and Friendly Enemies. Ask students to list
the factors that favor the spread of infectious diseases around the
world. List the steps that Dr. Delia Enria followed in investigating
the unusual symptoms she found in Buenos Aires. Why is it important
to understand the method of transmission of a particular disease? How
do changes in environment (climate change, changes in human population
patterns, etc.) affect the transmission of disease? Why is it important
to understand the relationship between microbes, humans and the environment?
What effects on a society might a pandemic have?
- If desired, conduct the following simulation to show the spread of
a fictitious disease (see http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso?resources/guide/medact4index.html
Ask students to play the role of epidemiologists to track down the way
the disease started and spread.
- Using World Health Organization maps and current statistics provided
on its web page as well as other resources listed above, divide students
into groups to select a current disease (influenza, AIDS, tuberculosis,
dengue fever, etc.) and investigate the causes, symptoms, and methods
of transmission. Ask students to map where this disease has occurred
in the world this year. Ask students to make predictions about where
the disease might spread and why. Investigate the methods being used
by health officials to prevent transmission, and compare the disease
statistics of the current year with those of previous years.
- Investigate historical outbreaks of disease-for example, the 1918
Spanish Influenza outbreak, the Flu Epidemics of 1957 and 1968, or the
plague of the 14-1500s.
- Invite local experts into the classroom to discuss the preparedness
of the local community for a possible future pandemic (influenza, tuberculosis,
etc.) Such experts might include: a health or disease control officer
from the local public health department, infectious disease physician,
or the infection control nurse from a local hospital. With the help
of these experts, ask the students to design a Community Action Plan
for dealing with a pandemic. What should a local community be doing
to be ready in case a pandemic arises? Which agencies need to be involved?
What steps need to be taken to prevent any pandemic? What steps would
need to be taken in case one arises? What effect would a pandemic have
on community safety, schools, the availability of medicines and medical
care, business and the economy, travel, immigration, etc.? Share your
Community Action Plan online and with your local Health Department.
Classroom Resources | Activities for Episode
Four
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