We had been studying the role of microbes in ecosystems, including their important role in the food chain and as decomposers. When student interest shifted to Ebola, we began to study the harmful effects of microorganisms. The students had some real concerns. I wanted to help students talk about their concerns, understand the science of a disease outbreak, and channel their emotional energy into finding solutions. Because when we think like scientists, we focus on solving problems.
One morning as students arrived in the classroom, I handed out black squares of paper to about half of them. I explained that the students holding a black square of paper had contracted a deadly disease. I asked them to come to the front of the classroom. The living students were asked to determine the source of the disease by examining the patients closely. That is, they had to find something that all the patients had in common. After some time, a student cracked the case. All the dead patients were wearing black shoes, and all the survivors were not wearing black shoes.
We made a list of the deadliest diseases we could think of (shown below). I was surprised that students were aware of so many deadly diseases. In addition to Ebola, they listed the Black Death, small pox, malaria, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. Interestingly, the majority of students (16/24) thought Ebola was the deadliest disease in history.
We reflected back on the student's question: Will Ebola end the world? Not likely. Learning more about other deadly diseases put the Ebola outbreak in perspective for us. The following class period, we viewed segments of this documentary here about Ebola. The documentary answered some of our questions about how the Ebola outbreak started (people eating infected fruit bats in Africa), how the disease is spread (touching body fluids), and what scientists are doing to find a cure (developing the drug ZMAPP).
1) How do bats survive the Ebola virus they spread? Wouldn't the cure in the immune system of bats help humans? (He thought a study of the fruit bat's immune system would help us develop a cure for Ebola in humans.)
2) Is Ebola similar to another epidemic? If so, how did we get rid of the first one? (She thought a study of the past would help us solve the problem of Ebola today.)
3) How will we stop Ebola [in Africa] if people [in America] won't help pay for the cure? (She was thinking about how to solve the economic and ethical problems related to stopping Ebola. That's thinking like a global citizen.)
4) How do vaccines work? Is there any way to prevent Ebola? (She was thinking about how to prevent future outbreaks of the disease.)
I was pleased to see this shift in students' thinking. Students were no longer simply reacting to Ebola; they were thinking about ways to solve the problem of Ebola. To continue our focus on problem-solving, I explained that in addition to scientists and doctors, engineers and computer scientists are also important problem-solvers in our world. For our final project, we would get to do the work of engineers and computer scientists. Our task was to program a "bug zapper" that could be used to sanitize hospitals.
Many students LOVED this project. In fact, several students commented to me that they are now asking for a Sphero ball for Christmas! I had three groups of students complete the challenge, and other groups partially complete the challenge. I did see some frustration at times, but I was proud of the great effort students put into this project. Students who enjoyed doing the work of engineers and computer scientists were encouraged to learn more about coding at home using resources available at code.org.
That wraps up our study of microorganisms. In addition to learning some new content, I think students got a taste of what it feels like to be a critical thinker and problem-solver. They also got to experience what it feels like to collaborate with their peers on a project. And I saw evidence of their growing desire to be good global citizens. For example, many expressed their interest in helping people in Africa by donating money. Our hearts go out to the victims of Ebola and their families, as well as the hundreds of medical workers who are making a great sacrifice to help others in need. You are real-life heroes.