5wk Unit: Epidemiology

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Class: Physiology Level: HS, mixed, no previous science experience

It’s not perfect, but in light of current global events, I thought even the agendas might help others with planning. It ends with cholera and ebola.

Week 1: Viruses & Bacteria

Agenda

  • 1A - Doctor-patient time graphs (from med school classes; discuss scientific evidence-inference nature of diagnosis & differential diagnoses)

  • 1B - What’s Wrong With Allison? (group activity I found online; I taped questions onto envelopes and put answers inside for Ss to arrange & select)

    • get 3 differential diagnoses for 5 questions selected from 20; simulates data-gathering at a medical appt

  • C - Virus v. Bacteria

    • Flu Attack! (video & discussion)

    • Graph Analysis compare/contrast virus & bacterial growth

    • Design triage system to help identify illnesses based on information so far

  • D - Types of Pathogen Growth

    • Model Virus vs. Bacteria (build)

    • Compare/Contrast lysogenic v. lytic (video & reading)

  • E - Lymphatic System & Responses

    • Lecture Notes: Lymphatic System

    • CER about lymphatic system

    • posters about diseases connected to lymphatic system response

  • F - revise triage system based on type of growth

    • Predict lysogenic v. lytic growth

    • Revise triage system using new information

 

Week 2: Spreading the Disease

Agenda

  • 2A Do Now: Costs of anti-vaxxing

  • B: Identifying symptoms of bacteria, viruses, and how they spread

    • Activity: Simulating epidemiology & rate of spread

    • Video Notes: Bacteria

    • Video Notes: Strep Throat & Cavities

    • Video Notes: Viruses

  • C: Connect epidemiological triangle to lysogenic/lytic growth

    • Do Now: Epidemiological Triangle

    • Graph & explain data for spread of disease in terms of bacteria v. virus/lysogenic vs. lytic

    • Read & Answer to review: Epidemiological triangle

  • D: Historical epidemics & diseases

    • Lecture notes: Spread of different diseases through time

  • 2E Posters: historical epidemics & responses (pandemic, Spanish flu, measles, dengue fever, smallpox, polio, etc.)

  • 2F Exit Ticket: Challenges for predicting growth, spread, rate, intensity of disease

 

Week 3. Case Study: Cholera

Agenda

  • 3A Osmosis Review

  • 3B-C Case Study: Surviving a Cholera Epidemic (adapted Shannon Muskopf)

    • When is it appropriate to force a cure on a population?

    • Rubric for Final Essay: Diagnosing Cholera

    • Gallery Walk: Symptoms, treatment, socio-cultural response, etc.

  • 3C Graph & statistics for cholera → apply epidemiological analysis & treatment, viral, bacterial, etc.

    • Video analysis & discussion: Red Cross video explaining cholera, discuss what works & doesn’t

  • 3D: PSA: create an updated cholera video for San Francisco about cholera

  • 3F: Exit Ticket:

    • 1. Is cholera viral or bacterial? How do you know?

    • 2. When do the symptoms of cholera become life-threatening?

    • 3. What treatments are available for cholera and why do they work?

  • 3F: Debate (WHO): cholera outbreak

 
 

Week 4-5. Case Study & Final Showcase: Ebola

Agenda

  • A: Triaging spread

    • Based on population, statistics, questions about potential spread

    • NME? Of ebola & necessity of triage

    • Review epidemiology triangle

  • B: The Hot Zone of Ebola

    • Jigsaw: video from red cross

    • Reading: hot zone

    • Lecture: epidemiology, etiology, costs and responses

  • C: Why is Ebola difficult to treat?

    • Evaluate what main threatening problems of ebola are

    • What treatments are available

    • Why is ebola difficult to treat?

    • Each group reports on one type of treatment or response

  • D: How do we respond to ebola?

    • Videos for differential responses from the ground, news reports, interviews, etc. (whatever latest youtube videos are concerning the crisis)

    • Video: Burial Boys

    • Video: Sierra Leone response to ebola

    • Jigsaw: Ebola 101 - In the News

    • Evaluate & analyze why response is different in different countries

    • Multilingual ebola symptom posters

  • E : Ebola in the US? Epidemiology in the US?

    • compare responses between ebola & vaccination crisis in the US

    • What would happen in the US for ebola?

    • Misinformation: autism-vaccines hoax vs. ebola vectors

    • 4E Do Now Reading Headline: Dr. Anthony Fauci: Risks From Vaccines Are “Almost Nonmeasurable”

  • F: Differential responses in different parts of Africa due to socioeconomic & infrastructure factors

    • Firebombing, Medicins sans frontieres

    • why/why not intervene?

    • Legal &* financial questions

  • SUMMATIVE: design a plan for the US in case of Ebola

Week 5 Agenda

  • 5A Do now: ppe costs

    • Intro: Ebola design project

    • What are examples of ppe at which level

    • Videos and movie examples of ppe

    • What’s the same

    • What’s different

  • prewriting

  • Portray one person or organization affected by ebola in an art project

    • Showcase expression and connect science to human responses

    • Must be able to identify disease, symptoms, responses, personal reactions, and the future

    • Share and educate about different parties affected

    • Present & evaluate artistic project