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1. Pandemic Changes in History
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8
Subjects: Language Arts, Social Studies, Health
Flu and influenza are common illnesses experienced by many. Even so, influenza pandemics can change a culture and make an imprint on history. Often the origin of influenza pandemics takes months, and sometimes years, to determine. Sometimes the cause is never identified. Students can explore how some of the world's most famous pandemic outbreaks such as the 1918 influenza outbreak in the United States, the Hong Kong flu, the Asian Flu of 1957, the 1976 Swine Flu, and the 1997 Avian Flu have changed history.
Compare how each country dealt with the outbreak, how the outbreak affected the populations, and the various modes of treatment and causes of disease. After compiling their research, students may write a newspaper article reporting on a famous epidemic through the eyes of someone who may have lived through the time of crisis. Students can also write a position paper as an expert preparing for a panel discussion on the prevention of future epidemic outbreaks.
Resources
NPR: Morning Edition: Flu Epidemic (January 06, 2000)
search1.npr.org/opt/collections/torched/me/data_me/seg_68804.htmCDC: Pandemic Influenza
www.cdc.gov/od/nvpo/pandemics/
2. Chronic Illness and Disease: the Visible and the Invisible
Grade Level: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12
Subjects: Language Arts, Visual Arts, Health
What is chronic illness and disease? What would it be like to live with a chronic illness? Is it true some students in our school have chronic illness and we don't even know it? Have students read the perspectives of people living with chronic illness by exploring the Band-Aids and Blackboards website. Have students select a chronicle from the real story section where kids tell their personal stories of coping and enduring daily life with a chronic illness. Some stories are followed up with an email address. Have students respond via email to some of the story entrants.
Students can compare and share the things they have in common with someone with chronic illness. Have students write an informational narrative about how to be a friend to someone with a chronic illness. Also create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting chronic illness with communicable illness.
Hospital stays can be frightening for most, but children who endure chronic illness often spend long periods of time in hospital settings. Today, children's hospitals meet the needs of the whole child, nut just their physical needs, but their emotional, spiritual and mental needs as well. Investigate the ways a Child Life Therapist, Recreational Therapist and Art Therapist aid children in the coping and the healing process through the use of game play, arts and crafts and pet therapy. How do these activities transcend into our daily lives and aid in day-to-day stress release?
Have students plan and draw a hospital playroom and include all of the activities they think are important for children to experience in the hospital. Include all of the special arrangements needed to accommodate hospital beds and IV machines. Invite a local recreational therapist to come and speak about his or her profession to the class.
Resources
Band-Aids and Blackboards
www.faculty.fairfield.edu/fleitas/contents.htmlRecreational Therapy Homepage
www.ceap.wcu.edu/hhp/students/JeffMansfield/rt.htmlCDC: Kids Quest, National Center for Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/kids/default.htm
Children's Hospital
www.pbs.org/opb/childrenshospital/Scientific American Frontiers: Growing Up Different
www.pbs.org/saf/1205/index.htmlThe American Experience: Influenza, 1918
www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/index.htmlOnline NewsHour: The Hong Kong Flu
www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec97/flu_12-16.htmlA Science Odyssey: Worldwide flu pandemic strikes 1918 - 1919
www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm18fl.htmlZOOM: Cold Facts About the Flu
pbskids.org/zoom/survey/flu_facts.txt.html
Don't miss these programs airing in July! Check your local listings for the most accurate air date and time.
Children's Hospital (6 parts)
Web Site: pbs.org/opb/childrenshospital/
Real-life stories of the staff, parents and patients from one of the nation's preeminent pediatric hospitals - Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital - CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL follows the day-to-day struggles and triumphs, revealing the fierce dedication and resilience of the staff, the anxiety and love from the parents, and the fortitude and grace of the children. The series opens a vital window onto the world of pediatric illness and contemporary health issues.
KIDHEALTH (5 parts)
This magazine format series travels the country to talk with parents, kids and doctors who are successfully dealing with children's illnesses in new and groundbreaking ways. Each episode highlights advances in treating diseases and injuries, showcases new technologies or innovative therapy programs, and introduces viewers to patients and healthcare providers who are achieving extraordinary results. Each episode features a "KidClinic" segment, offering viewers practical advice on health issues for every child — from the use of antibiotics to detecting the signs of childhood depression to making sure a child's backpack isn't a health hazard. Olympic figure skating Gold Medalist Peggy Fleming hosts.
