Background Information for Teachers

We've gathered here web sites that will help you to teach middle school students all about virus, bacteria, and infectious diseases—what they are and how they impact our lives. We've included sites that take a look at the role of diseases, plagues, and epidemics in significant events in world history. With the rise in infectious diseases like AIDS and SARS and the global threat of bioterrorism, all of us need to learn more about the fascinating and sometimes deadly microscopic world around us.

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Common Cold http://www.commoncold.org/index.htm

This site provides information about how the cold virus invades the human body, what causes cold symptoms, how to prevent a cold, and how complications can occur. Six myths about the common cold are examined. This site should be interesting to almost everyone, but perhaps most of all to those of us who have recently had a cold. MSP full record

Secret Agents: The Menace of Emerging Infections http://books.nap.edu/catalog/10232.html

Secret Agents, a book available online and in print, looks at new and emerging infections that have increased in attack rate or geographic range, or threaten to do so, and tells the stories of scientists racing to catch up with invisible adversaries. Each chapter focuses on a different threat: foodborne pathogens, antibiotic resistance, animal- and insectborne diseases, pandemic influenza, infectious causes of chronic disease, and bioterrorism. MSP full record

Montana State University-Bozeman: Insects, Disease, and History http://scarab.msu.montana.edu/historybug/

The site shows the impact of insectborne diseases on world history, including such events as the Napoleonic campaigns, the U.S. Civil War, and World War I. The web site also contains a primer on medical entomology, suggested readings, and a glossary. MSP full record

Bugs in the News! http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/bugs.html

Each virus-and bacteria-related topic is presented in the catchy format of "What the heck is…?" Basic information is provided on DNA vaccines, antibiotic resistance, allergies, anthrax, E. coli, cloning, flu, genes, genetic engineering, enzymes, chloroplast, mad cow disease, penicillin, receptors, and microbiology. Advanced level articles are provided on genetically engineered adenovirus, AIDS and HIV, and Cryptosporidium. MSP full record

Nature Web Focus: SARS http://people.ku.edu/~jbrown/bugs.html

The journal Nature offers this free site on severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Key questions are answered about the outbreak, and how we can prepare to deal with future viral threats. Teachers will find dozens of articles, including editorials and science updates from the journal. Included is a chronology of the SARS epidemic, what scientists are currently studying, and an excellent overview of what we know and what remains to be learned. MSP full record

Factors in the Emergence of Infectious Diseases http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol1no1/morse.htm

Agricultural development is often a factor in the spread of infectious disease. Cases of a deadly viral infection in China have been traced to field mice who flourish in rice fields. In Argentina, conversion of grassland to maize cultivation favored a rodent that was the natural host for this virus, and human cases increased in proportion with the expansion of maize agriculture. Other examples, in addition to those already known, are likely to appear as new areas are placed under cultivation. MSP full record

Immune Cells in Action http://www.teachersdomain.org/6-8/sci/life/stru/immune/index.html

In a teaching module from the video The Secret of Life, "Nothing to Sneeze At: Viruses," watch as a virus attacks a cell, and learn how the immune system reacts to this onslaught. MSP full record

Disease Detectives http://csip.cornell.edu/Curriculum_Resources/CSIP/Hawley/Hawley.asp

A teacher's guide, students' worksheets, and list of clues are provided for a scientific mystery where students interpret clues about a potential disease epidemic. Students work in pairs or larger groups to synthesize information from mock medical records and interviews. Students determine the bacterial agent, vector, and host that are involved in the emerging disease. The teacher's guide includes teaching tips, assessment ideas, and links to additional references. MSP full record

PBS Online—American Experience: Influenza 1918 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/index.html

This web site provides supplementary information, materials, and resources for Influenza 1918, a film about the worst epidemic in American history. Site users can access both a program description and a transcript for the film as well as a teacher's guide, audio interviews, and a bibliography of related books and web sites. Additionally, this site provides a month-by-month time line and a map depicting geographic and temporal distribution of the flu. MSP full record

What Happened to the Woolly Mammoth? http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/frontiers_20020515.shtml

This radio broadcast explores the theory that the extinctions of the woolly mammoth and other megafauna were caused by an infectious disease. The broadcast discusses the difficulty of proving a virus found within animal remains was lethal, as opposed to one of many harmless viruses. The broadcast is about 29 minutes in length. MSP full record

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Copyright August 2006 — The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0424671. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.