Don't Drink the Water: Investigating a Cholera Epidemic (PDF)
Students will learn about the scientific method and the characteristics of life by assuming the role of epidemiologists. The scenario that they will investigate is that many individuals in the school have recently become ill with gastrointestinal symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, dehydration, and headache).
Epidemiologists: Detectives of Mystery Diseases
This lesson plan gives students the chance to investigate disease-causing agents. Using a case study, design charts, and data analysis, they will discover the cause of an outbreak that has infected their fellow classmates.
Epidemiology: Graphing and Analyzing Health Data
Students graph data on fetal and infant mortality rates collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Students then identify trends in the data and propose potential causes for the trends.
West Nile Virus: What is the Risk? (PDF) and PPT-WinZip
The students will investigate (1) What happens when West Nile Virus (WNV) shows up in a remote mountain community? (2) What is the risk of an individual contracting the disease? (3) What can you do to lower your risk?
What's The Big Deal About Accutane?
Students in the classroom will take on the role of epidemiologists at the Director’s Emergency Operations Center of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They will be called on by their local hospital to investigate an "outbreak" in serious birth defects that has occurred in infants born to teenage girls. Through inquiry, students will discover a link between the use of the acne drug called Accutane® and birth defects.
What Happened to the Baby?
Students perform a role play activity to determine what might have contributed to infants born with limb abnormalities. The students divide into several groups; the Disease Detective group interview the remaining students, who play the roles of mothers, fathers, doctors, and others in order to identify the possible causes of limb abnormalities.
