Resource for Biocomputing, Visualization, and Informatics (RBVI), University of California – San Francisco. Students construct three-dimensional icosahedral models by cutting and folding preprinted figures of the dengue virus that shows the arrangement of proteins in the virus capsid.
SCIENCE upd8: Deadly Dengue
© Copyright Science upd8, UK. Students learn of Vietnamese villages that are disease free thanks to local children and scientists using biological and environmental controls without the use of insecticides. This poster-making activity reinforces students’ understanding of food chains as they work out how the Vietnamese children eliminated the virus and explain why the strategy works.
Cells Alive!: Oh Goodness, My E. coli Has a Virus!
©1994 to 2011, Quill Graphics. This site describes the difference between viruses and bacteria and how the virus infects E. coli. A short time-lapse animation shows what a population of E. coli looks like as it is wiped out by the bacteriophage.
WEB ADVENTURES: MEDMYST (SEPA)
© 2001-2010 Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning, Rice University. MedMyst is a problem-based adventure game provided in two versions. The original version engages the player in the role of a scientist/historian/detective who discovers infectious agents and transmission pathways. In the new reloaded version, students choose to work as an epidemiologist, microbiologist, or veterinarian to solve mysteries. Teacher materials and activities are provided. Available in Spanish.
Virulent
© 2011 Morgridge Institute for Research, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. This action-and-strategy game focuses on complex interactions in biological systems. Players experience what it takes to infect a cell, replicate, and escape to infect other cells.
The Never-Ending Battle HD (SEPA)
© 2011, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Explore how an ocean virus, Emiliania huxleyi virus (EhV), battles algae in order to maintain ecological balance in Earth’s oceans. Embedded in this graphic story are interactive learning activities that explore the numbers of viruses in the ocean relative to icebergs, jellyfish, etc. Explore an algal bloom up close. Open the virus to see inside and learn about the parts. The app includes an essay and a 30-minute radio documentary.
Pandemic II by Westech Media, LLC
Copyright 2004-2012 Dark Realm Studios. This Web-based game is a simulation of a deadly virus that is released on the world. The objective is to ‘evolve’ different traits of the disease so that it spreads around the world and kills as many humans as possible before humans develop a cure. It discusses virus lethality, transmissions, types of viruses, and virus defense mechanisms.
NOVA ONLINE: Making Vaccines
© 2001 Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) NOVA ONLINE. Students learn about the role smallpox played in the development of vaccines and learn the difference between live and non-live vaccines. An interactive animation walks students through the steps of various techniques used to make six different vaccines in a virtual laboratory.
Learn.Genetics™: Cell Size and Scale (SEPA)
© 2011 Genetic Science Learning Center, University of Utah. Use a scroll bar to understand the relative sizes of cells, including a coffee bean, a skin cell, E. coli bacterium, HIV, and a carbon atom.
Infectious Disease: Evolving challenges to human health (SEPA)
© 2012 National Academy of Sciences. Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences. Through videos and text, this online interactive site allows students to explore: viruses, their evolution and distribution; the role of vaccines and the human immune system; the HIV pandemic; and malaria. Students choose different control measures for several diseases and see the outcomes of their choices.
