Outbreak: A Webquest about Epidemics

| Introduction | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion |

"Ring around the Roses Pocket full of posies Ashes Ashes We all fall down...."

Introduction & Task

"Ring around the roses" was not always so harmless; it deals with one of the grim periods of English medical history. At the time of the Black Plague in England the first signs of a victim was a ring of red rash around the neck (roseola). As the disease progressed there was a horrible body stench which was combatted by filling the pockets of the victim with sweet-smelling flowers. Eventually those so stricken would "all fall down" -- dead!

In this quest you will investigate a communicable disease and present your findings as a power point presentation to the class.

Process

1. First, your team will need to choose a disease from the list of diseases. In order to prevent everyone doing the same disease in the class, there will be a sign up sheet, when you have decided, sign your groups' names next to the disease. Diseases will be chosen on a first come first serve basis. Do not worry at this point if you don't know much about the disease, the point of this quest is to learn about it. See disease list.

2. Once you've decided on your disease, you will need to research that disease. Each team member should keep a notebook where they write down their notes on the disease. Some questions to think about while you're searching:

Useful Websites Center for Disease Control http://www.cdc.gov/ National Foundation for Infectious Diseases http://www.nfid.org/ Communicable Disease and Immunization Index http://www.metrokc.gov/health/prevcont/ Infectious Facts http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/ World Health Organization (W.H.O) http://www.who.int

3. Class Evaluation

At the completion of your presentation, you will submit a 5 question multiple choice quiz. The quiz should be straightforward and include only information that you presented. This quiz must be typed and submitted. At the end of all of the presentations, you will take a test that consists of everyone's questions.

Evaluation

PowerPoint Presentation
Information	History 1 2 3 4 How disease was contracted 1 2 3 4 Symptoms 1 2 3 4 Diagnosis 1 2 3 4 Treatment/Cure/Prevention 1 2 3 4 Prognosis (recovery chances) 1 2 3 4
	Minimal (1)	Satisfactory (2)	Exemplary (3)
Organization & Creativity	Group did not seem well prepared, slides disorganized or dull	Group seems prepared, some minor issues in organization, slides were interesting	Group seems very prepared prepared, slides transitioned smoothly and were interesting to the audience
Quiz Questions	Questions were poorly worded and not related to the main points of the presentation	Questions followed the presentation, some issues with wording or relevance	Questions were very relevant to the presentation and followed the main ideas of the disease. Questions at appropriate difficulty level.

 

Conclusion

At the end of this quest, you should be "experts" in the disease you studied. You will know how the disease is passed from person to person, how a person can prevent getting the disease, and what treatments are available to those who contract it. You will also be aware of the history of the disease. After watching the other groups present their own diseases, you should have a fair understanding of other diseases also.

Science

STATE GOAL 13: Understand the relationships among science, technology and society in historical and contemporary contexts.