© Copyright Science upd8, UK. After a classroom discussion about the flu pandemic of 1918 and the avian flu of 2005, students take on the role of medical and scientific advisers to the government, suggesting how to control the spread of avian flu.
NOVA scienceNOW: Pandemic Flu
© 1996-2011 WGBH Educational Foundation. In a short online video, scientists contrast the ways bird flu and human flu spread. Students simulate the spread of a virus using colored stickers and develop a sense of the numbers of people affected by the 1918 flu. Students make avian and human influenza A virus models and then infect a model lung cell to make a hybrid virus that has some avian and some human RNA segments and surface proteins.
NOVA scienceNOW: 1918 Flu
© 1996-2011 WGBH Educational Foundation. Students perform a sequence of six short simulations to model how an infectious disease can spread through a human population; then they graphically represent the data generated from the simulations. Students discuss the risks associated with biological hazards, such as viruses, and explain ways that infectious disease can be prevented, controlled, or cured.
NESCent: Influenza Virus: A tiny moving target
NESCent (National Evolutionary Synthesis Center). Licensed under Creative Commons. Through a game modeling a viral infection, students discover that viruses do not infect cells randomly and that it is possible for viruses to avoid detection by the immune system. Students explore viral structures and how the virus replicates by building their own influenza virus.
Infectious Disease WebQuest (SEPA)
© 2012 National Academy of Sciences. Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences. Through a WebQuest, students become experts in different research areas, finding answers to questions about avian influenza. Then they pool their knowledge with other students to put together a public awareness campaign.
CASES Online: Bird Flu and the 1918 Epidemic
© 2008 Elizabeth Lindsey, Emory University and Gerda Louizi, North Springs High School. Creating Active Student Engagement in the Sciences (CASES Online), Emory University. This case uses a real-world article to emphasize the reality of the flu and the importance of mastering a basic understanding of biology and science. Through research and panel discussions, students learn about the genetic makeup and transmission of viruses, and describe host specificity.
Montana State University: Strange Dead Bird–Can You Solve the Science Mystery?
© Montana State University 2006. Burns Technology Center at MSU-Bozeman. In this interactive scientific mystery, students choose the direction the story takes and make decisions that influence the outcome of the story. Students learn about West Nile virus and other insect-borne diseases, as well as human health, migratory birds, and wetlands habitat.
Summer Research Program for Science Teachers: Introducing the Concept of Medical Ecology
Columbia University’s Summer Research Program for Science Teachers. Acting as epidemiologists, students investigate facts related to a fictitious outbreak of West Nile virus and then pose various hypotheses about its origin. They present their hypotheses and an action plan to the Board of Health (represented by the teacher).
EXCITE! Science Ambassador: West Nile Virus Strikes Again
SAFER·HEALTHIER·PEOPLE™, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services. Excellence in Curriculum Innovation through Teaching Epidemiology and the Science of Public Health (EXCITE). Students develop a prevention plan for an American Indian reservation that is experiencing a new occurrence of West Nile virus infection, while considering the cultural and environmental implications relevant to this population.
EXCITE! Science Ambassador: Entomologists on Safari: On the Hunt for Mosquitoes
SAFER·HEALTHIER·PEOPLE™, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services. Excellence in Curriculum Innovation through Teaching Epidemiology and the Science of Public Health (EXCITE). Acting as entomologists, students investigate increased mosquito activity and the possibility of West Nile virus transmission in a fictional community. They present the fictional community with ways to prevent infection.
