Disease Disaster
A WebQuest for 7th Grade (Life Science)
Designed by Mrs. Wagner-West
Modified by
J. Marsteller
P. Kasper
M. Rehbehn
Hoover Middle School
Rockville, MD
March 2005
Introduction | Task | Process | Calendar | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits
Introduction
In Rockville, Maryland, people are getting sick. Hospitals are filling up with patients with a variety of symptoms. They are experiencing enlarged and tender lymph nodes, fever, chills, heat exhaustion, and rashes. Other patients exhibit these symptoms but also have abdominal pain, cough, and have difficulty breathing. Physicians are confused; some of these patients are family members and others are complete strangers. The symptoms seem as if they are connected but a pattern is not immediately seen. If this is an epidemic the doctors need to know what it is and how to treat it immediately.... otherwise, it could mean the end of Rockville.
Task
It is your job as a medical team to decide on the identity of this disease. You will (1) investigate and identify this "outbreak", (2) determine the causes of the epidemic and how it is transmitted, and (3) design a presentation to give to the Hoover Medical Convention. The presentation should also include preventative measures for the general public and treatment options. Each team member will have one specialized role in addition to participating in the final group presentation.
As a registered nurse (R.N.) with a Master's degree in Public Health, you will determine the causes of the epidemic. What is the culprit behind the disease? Is it a bacteria?A virus? A fungus? A parasite? What does it look like? Give support for why it is likely that the disease is caused by your findings.
Your job as the Veterinarian (DVM) is to investigate how the disease is transmitted, or infects people. Is it air-borne or blood-borne? Are animals involved or does the disease move person-to-person? Does it require a certain temperature? How close do the people have to be to become infected? Give support
Epidemiology, the study of diseases, has always been an interest of yours through graduate school. That is why you got your PhD in it! It is your job as the disease historian to study how the disease has progressed through the years. When was it first recognized? How did they treat it then? Are there pictures or documents from the past that can help find a cure or treatment today?
Since preventative measures and treatment are your strong suit as a M.D., you will discover how the disease is treated now and if there is a cure. Is there anything people can do to ensure that they do not become infected? Are there medications to take or possibly surgery needed? Your findings are crucial to the future of this disease and to the public.
The final group presentation will be in a format of your choice. Your medical team may create a poster, a pamphlet, a PowerPoint presentation, or a song or other type of performance with teacher approval that meet the criteria. Each medical team will present at the Medical Convention. Each person in the group is responsible for knowing all of the parts of the presentation. Each medical team will submit all group members' research notes done in fact phrase format and a bibliography. Each medical team will also hand in a printed form of their presentation as well as an outline.
Process
1. Introduce and review Web quest project.
2. All students will research symptoms for general diagnoses and make a list of possible diseases that fit some of the symptoms.
Family Doctor.org (diagnostic flowchart)
US Department of Health and Human Services (use MEDLINEplus and Healthfinder links)
Karolinska Institutet Library
3. You will be assigned to a medical team of 4 students to discuss the possible diseases based on your initial research about symptoms.
4. Each team member will select a role to investigate. The roles are 1) R.N. with Masters degree in Public Health; 2) DVM; 3) PhD; 4) MD.
5. You will then regroup based on your ROLE (i.e., all DVMs in one group, etc.) In your role groups, the group will create one graphic organizer in outline form to identify your research needs. Remember to include space for other or interesting facts.
6. Regroup in your medical team to share the organizers. Medical team members select one disease for the team to continue researching.
7. To research, use the links provided below as well as online subscription databases and trade and reference books.
These Reference books are good sources for this project:
REF/503/UXL: UXL Encyclopedia of Science (10 volumes)
REF/610.3/MAR: The Marshall Cavendish Encyclopedia of Health (14 volumes)
REF/612/MAG: Body By Design, From the Digestive System to the Skeleton (2 volumes)
REF/613/LEV: Health Living (3 volumes)
REF/616/DIS: Diseases (8 volumes)
REF/616/SIC: Sick! Diseases and Disorders, Injuries and Infections (4 volumes)
RNs: Virtual Museum of Bacteria
Hidden Killers: deadly viruses
Fungal Infection
Parasites of Public Health Concern
DVMs: *use the RN and MD websites for information on transmission
PhDs: A Brief History of Infectious Disease *check the article titles on the left of the page!
Disease in History
History of Vaccination
Old Medical Terminology Dictionary
MDs: WebMD
Healthfinder
World Health Organization
8. After researching, regroup as a medical team to discuss your findings. Also, plan how the team will present their research at the Hoover Medical Convention and get approval from Ms. Marsteller.
9. As a group, work on your presentation and the outline which will reflect the final presentation. Each medical team's presentation should last 3 to 4 minutes. (See evaluation rubric). Each person on the medical team is responsible for writing their own section but every team member is responsible for knowing the information presented by their teammates.
10. ASK FOR HELP IF YOU NEED IT! Have a FANTASTIC mock medical convention and HAVE FUN!
Calendar
- 4/4: Introduction Steps 1-2
- 4/5: Steps 3-5 in class
- 4/6: Steps 5-7 in the Media Center
- 4/7: Step 7 in the Media Center
- 4/8: No School
- 4/11: Step 8 in the Media Center
- 4/12: Step 8, Media Center as needed
- 4/13: Step 8-9, Media Center as needed
- 4/14: Step 8-9, Media Center as needed
- 4/12: Medical Convention
Evaluation Rubric
Each student will be given an individual grade based on their role specific tasks. You will not be given a score for a section to which you were not assigned. Group scores are based on the presentation, submitted hard copy and outline. Using this rubric, each student will receive one individual score and two group scores.
|
Beginning
1
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Developing
2
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Accomplished
3
|
Exemplary
4
|
Identify and determine the causes of the disease. Give support for conclusions and include visual representations.
(individual grade - RN)
|
Disease name is given with no support. Causes are inaccurate and not supported. |
Disease name is given with minimal support. Plausible identification of causes given with little or no support. |
Disease is identified and explanation is supported. Plausible identification of causes given with accurate and descriptive support. Good choice of visuals. |
Disease is identified with clear support and explanation is thorough. Plausible identification of causes given with accurate and exemplary explanation. Very clear and demonstrative visuals. |
Determine the transmission of the disease and give support.
(individual grade - DVM)
|
Transmission description is inaccurate for identified disease and not supported. |
Transmission accurately described with minimal support. |
Transmission accurately described with founded support (3 reasons for identification) and good detail. |
Transmission clearly and accurately identified with in-depth explanations and support (4 or more reasons). |
Describe the progression of the disease, treatment, and its social impact through history. Include references.
(individual grade - PhD)
|
History of the disease incomplete or without detail.
|
History includes description of the disease and its treatment in the past but fails to discuss how it affected society.
|
Description is complete but with little or no visual representation/ documents or references.
|
Complete history of the disease including referenced documentation and discussion of how it affected and still affects society.
|
Determine the preventative measures available and treatment/cure for the disease and give support.
(individual grade - MD)
|
Preventative measures or treatment/cure given with no support. |
Preventative measures or treatment/cure described in little detail. |
Preventative measures and treatment/cure both described in detail. |
Preventative measures and treatment/cure both described in detail with supported research references. |
Final fact phrased notes, bibliography.
(individual grade)
|
Some notes, may be missing a part or bibliography. |
All parts are started: notes, bibliography, but are lacking adequate detail to accomplish final task. |
All parts are completed with adequate information and few errors in format: notes, bibliography. |
Information has been thoroughly researched, notes are in-depth, bibliography is thorough. Research beyond basic information. |
Final presentation and printed form
(group grade)
|
Shows little effort or creativity and/or is missing parts or does not meet time requirements. |
Shows effort and has all roles included, may not meet time requirements.
|
Shows considerable effort and time, includes all role descriptions and support, and includes graphics and meets time requirements.
|
Is very creative, includes detailed support and references for each role, includes relevant graphics and meets time requirements. |
Final presentation outline
(group grade)
[see Write Source]
|
Final outline is unorganized and/or is missing parts. |
Final outline is easy to follow, includes all sections, and has minor typographical errors. |
Final outline is organized well, descriptive in each section, and has minimal or no typographical errors. |
Final outline shows complete comprehension of each section in detail with very few or no errors. It is organized clearly and includes references.
|
Conclusion
Through this WebQuest, library research, and group presentation, you have been exposed to the different levels of disease research, prevention/treatment, and societal impact of diseases. Each of these steps are necessary to understand how microscopic entities can affect our lives. You have also learned to search for information on the internet and in the library and connect to websites that are specifically concerned with public health. The individual roles in the lesson also allowed you to investigate the many careers you may pursue that would be very useful in the fields of medicine and epidemiology.
A few things to think about:
*What steps would epidemiologists need to take if the disease has never been seen before?
*How could a new disease develop? When is it considered a "new" disease?
*With the widespread availability of the internet, is self-diagnosis becoming more common?
*Why are certain areas of the world more likely to show higher rates of infection than others?
*How can this information assist in forensics, or solving police cases?
Credits & References
Web Design pages:
The WebQuest Page
Design Patterns
We all benefit by being generous with our work. Our heartfelt thanks to Katy Wagner-West of Cedar Park Middle School for creating the original webquest (Original Webquest). Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (your name) on (date). If you do modify it, please let the original author know and provide the new URL (send to mwagnerk@pacificu.edu).
Last modified/updated on March 17, 2005. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page