In MedMyst: Disease Defenders, players can choose to train with an epidemiologist, microbiologist, or veterinarian to learn how these experts work as a team to solve infectious disease outbreaks while using the scientific method. Each expert path has its own learning objectives and stresses different parts of the scientific method.

This is an interactive learning adventure for middle school students and has accompanying classroom activities and magazines. In this challenge, students will perform experiments to identify the germ responsible for a fungal disease. Students will follow rules or postulates worked out by Dr. Koch in the late 1800s for establishing whether a specific germ causes a particular infectious disease: 1. The suspected pathogen must be present in every case of the disease; 2. The suspected pathogen must be isolated from the host and grown in pure culture; 3. The disease must be reproduced when a pure culture of the suspected pathogen is inoculated into a healthy susceptible host; 4. The same pathogen must be recovered from the newly infected host. The Germ Theory of Disease holds that germs or microorganisms cause infectious diseases. Funded through the National Center for Research Resources and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

This is an interactive learning adventure for middle school students and has accompanying classroom activities and magazines. In Mission Two: Peril in Prokaryon, students learn about infectious pathogens and epidemiology while investigating a cholera outbreak.

This is an interactive learning adventure for middle school students and has accompanying classroom activities and magazines. In Mission Three: Nemesis in Neuropolis, students learn about viruses and vaccines while investigating a smallpox case.

This is an interactive learning adventure for middle school students and has accompanying classroom activities and magazines. In Mission Four: Malady in Mabuufo, students learn about malaria, the history of malaria research, and disease vectors.

This is an interactive learning adventure for middle school students and has accompanying classroom activities and magazines. In Mission Five: Zero Hour Zoonoses, students learn about zoonotic pathogens and the diseases they cause, while trying to prevent a bioterror attack.

Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students use Excel Solver to find the linear combination of servings of two specified foods that minimize cost while meeting nutritional requirements.

In this Interactive Lecture Demonstration, students will attempt to predict the content of articles on the Health Science pages of French newspapers by reading headlines. They then read the actual articles and reflect on the actual content of the news articles.

A one page activity that takes students to several websites related to the obesity epidemic. First they can calculate BMI, then learn about national trends in the rate of obesity and finally use a tutorial on insulin and diabetes.

Students are asked to work in teams to find a claim in the media relating to the impact of an organic compound (or class of organic compounds) on the environment and its inhabitants. Their chosen compound should have an effect on the sustainability of plant or animal life, or, in particular, the sustainability of human health.

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In Nothing To Rave About, students are asked to uncover why there has been a dramatic increase in the number of teens admitted to the emergency room after partying at a local dance club. During their investigation, they learn how ecstasy and other club drugs act on the nervous system. This game consists of three consecutive episodes with a continuous storyline and we recommend playing the episodes in order.

In Uncommon Scents, students investigate a chemical accident and learn about the health effects of exposure to toxic chemicals. They will discover that many common household products contain toxic chemicals, learn how inhaling these product can severely damage the nervous system and other parts of the body, and find ways to protect themselves from exposure to toxic vapors. This game consists of three consecutive episodes with a continuous storyline. We recommend playing the episodes in order

Detailed information is provided in activity description/assignment and an example lab handout that assisted students in conducting their research.

Initial guidelines given to students:

Choose a location (where you are from, a place that is of interest to you) and investigate how projected changes in climate will affect that area. What are the expected changes in temperature, precipitation, storms, droughts, sea level, seasonality, etc? How will this affect the habitat of the area (for humans, animals, and plants)? How will this affect the local economy? What actions can the people that live in this area take to lessen the impacts of changing climate? Students write a scientific style paper on their findings, and present their research to the class in ~10 minute oral presentations (alternatively a poster session could be used).

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In this computer lab activity, students explore and discuss the nature of the sensitivity of parameters in a chaotic system. As a result, they understand the challenges of numerical simulation and/or parameters estimation in chaotic systems.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

This unit plan is designed to spark students’ interest in critical thinking and scientific discovery. This unit is based on the book, “Survival of the Sickest: A medical maverick discovers why we need disease” by Jonathan Prince and Sharon Moalem. The book explores the evolution of different diseases throughout its eight chapters. The lesson plan is designed to take about 21 days (50-minute class periods). For this book, the class reads the Prologue together. Then, groups of students are assigned a chapter that they will teach to the class. Their teaching will include a presentation, activity, and facilitated discussion. (The unit plan helps the students learn how to do each of these tasks.) A final project is included at the end of the unit - a book review of the entire book.  The summative grade for this unit is multi-part - the teaching assignment and the book review. Three quizzes are included, which would also be small summative grades. The notes packets and teaching planning sheets are all formative grades. A team member peer review is another part of the project. 

Students generate hypothesis regarding the causes and consequences of obesity. Based on these putative causes and consequences they propose sustainable solutions (e.g. walkable neighborhoods, community gardens, etc.) that would be appropriate for and effective in their bioregion.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Students learn about potential safety and health concerns of personal hygiene products. Students examine labels and advertisements of these projects and then engage in rhetorical and cultural analysis of these advertisements.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)

Many individuals experience trauma during their lifetimes. Although many people exposed to trauma demonstrate few or no lingering symptoms, those individuals who have experienced repeated, chronic, or multiple traumas are more likely to exhibit pronounced symptoms and consequences, including substance abuse, mental illness, and health problems. Subsequently, trauma can significantly affect how an individual engages in major life areas as well as treatment. This TIP provides evidence-based and best practice information for behavioral health service providers and administrators who want to work more effectively with people who have been exposed to acute and chronic traumas and/or are at risk of developing traumatic stress reactions. Using key trauma-informed principles, this TIP addresses trauma-related prevention, intervention, and treatment issues and strategies in behavioral health services. The content is adaptable across behavioral health settings that service individuals, families, and communities—placing emphasis on the importance of coordinating as well as integrating services.

Unit 1 introduces foundational concepts in geoscience, emergency management, and political science that are critical for developing a systems thinking approach and for achieving the learning objectives in the storm module. More specifically, within Unit 1, students acquire a vocabulary related to storm systems and risk, engage in practical exercises on event probability and frequency, and complete written activities and oral presentations that reinforce these concepts, using their own community and two case studies as examples. The activities include: a pre-and post-Unit survey on natural hazard risk, an optional concept map exercise to identify associations of risk in major storms, an exercise on probability and frequency of natural hazards in general and major storms in particular, an exercise using hazard vulnerability analysis (HVA) and the HVA's findings, and a synthesis assignment that requires analysis of an assigned hazard mitigation plan (HMP) and development of a proposal to improve mitigation plans.

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In Unit 2, students apply and evaluate foundational concepts about storm hazards and risk in the context of two cases studies: Superstorm Sandy (2012) and the Storm of the Century (1993). Through different activities and assignments, students develop skills for finding, evaluating, and relating data to case studies and build an understanding of preparedness, response, and resilience. The activities include: an analysis of hazard mitigation plans for their local community, examination of storm-related geophysical processes in the context of societal risks, preparation of a press release for community preparedness, and a peer review and revision opportunity for the press releases. Instructors may also end this unit by having students revise their concept maps from Unit 1, applying lessons learned in Units 1 and 2.

(Note: this resource was added to OER Commons as part of a batch upload of over 2,200 records. If you notice an issue with the quality of the metadata, please let us know by using the 'report' button and we will flag it for consideration.)