In this coronavirus activity, students will simulate an outbreak much like the we are currently experiencing with COVID-19. In this class activity students receive a test tube with some “bodily fluids.”
Students will receive a test tube or cup with simulated bodily fluids in it. One or more people (you choose, see teacher notes) in the room have bodily fluids that are infected.
To simulate how some viruses like SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) spread, students will use a pipette to exchange droplets from their test tube to another person’s test tube.
Determining how a virus is spread is crucial in preventing the spread of a virus. Finding patient zero, the first person known to become infected, is a critical part of this process. After scientists determine patient zero it can help them determine the origin of a virus and allow them to inform the public to prevent future infection.
Directions for students:
Obtain a test tube or cup and a pipette from your
teacher.
When directed by your teacher, you will move
around the room and when told you will exchange 4 drops of simulated bodily
fluids from your test tube to the other persons test tube.
-This simulates the exchanging of
bodily fluids from a simple handshake, sneeze or cough.
Repeat until you have exchanged “bodily fluid” with 5 people.
When everyone is done you will take you test tube to your teacher to test whether you have become infected using a chemical indicator. If your sample turns pink, you are infected.
Teacher Tips:
Recommended Materials:
If you do not have the materials listed below you can creatively substitute materials. See the teachers notes attached to the download.
Phenolphthalein indicator solution (see notes for making the solution)
.1M NaOH (Sodium Hydroxide) or other base that will result in a positive test for phenolphthalein indicator solution. This works well because it appears the same as water.
Distilled water
Test tube (recommend plastic) for each student
Pipette for each student
Increase the challenge:
Start with two infected people from the start. This will only work with larger class sizes. Five exchanges with one patient has worked fine for classes as low as 18 and high a 30. For two infected patients I stick with my higher level (honors classes) and larger classes.
Do not give students the handout until they are done. Then ask them to record the names of the people they interacted with. Many students will find it to be a challenging task to list the names even though it happened only minutes earlier. This helps students understand some of the challenges that come with remembering people they encountered.
Usually when I am posed the questions I go off on a rant for 20 minutes tying in every relevant current event with the topics we just covered in class.
And then…I realize their mission had been accomplished. I was derailed. Just when you think you won their hearts into a love for Biology you realize they effectively got out of thinking for a solid 20 minutes.
I Will Not Be Defeated!
To help me briefly and effectively communicate to my students why they need to learn the content I have dedicated my life to teaching them, I have created two different posters that will help reinforces the “Why”.
Now all I have to do is point to the posters and now you can too!
Download Your Free Poster!
10 Reasons Why You Need to Learn Biology
The following “10 Reasons” are available on two posters (5 reasons on each) that you can print and hang in your classroom. Various sizes are available.
Why
Do I Need to Learn Biology?
1.) Improve your ability to learn.
You are going to figure out how you learn best by being challenged in a subject you know little about. Let’s face it, you will eventually need to know how to remember things, write reasonable sentences, problem solve, and be an effective contributor to this world. All of those skills are used in Biology!
2.) Basic
knowledge of Biology helps you understand what your body needs to perform
optimally and feel your best.
Do you know exactly what you are putting in or
on your body? From macronutrients to micronutrients, having a fundamental
understanding of the make-up of your body and what it requires can help you
live a longer, healthier, happy life.
3.) Biology
can help you make informed decisions about your own health.
Healthcare
professional are amazing dedicated professionals however, sometimes mistakes
are made. Having a fundamental understanding of Biology can help you better
understand and communicate with medical professionals. You may even identify an
error or suggest an alternate solution…if you understand Biology.
4.) Learn
how to follow directions in an efficient manner.
If you don’t know how to do something, what do
you do? You may look up the instructions or watch a how-to video. Biology will
help improve your ability to interpret directions in a variety of formats and
help you solve problems more efficiently.
5.) An
understanding of Biology can help keep you safe!
Throughout Biology you will know learn how various
molecules can influence cells. Guess what! You are a big lump of cells!
Understanding how cells behave in various condition can help you better
understand how to care for your body. For example, having some background
knowledge of Biology will tell you why you get thirsty when you eat salty food
(osmosis) or lots of carbohydrates. Understanding Biology can help you be more
in-tune to your body and allow you to detect when something is wrong more
quickly (ABCD’s of Skin Cancer, Mitosis). That could save your life!
6.) Biology teaches
practical skills that you will use daily.
This subject will teach you how to think
logically and solve real-world problems. You will undoubtedly have problems to
figure out during your lifetime and the strategies developed in this class will
help you solve them. The prerequisite skills learned in this class can apply
directly to your everyday tasks. For example,…. almost everything that you do!
7.) Helps
you understand current events.
This includes news about energy sources,
product recalls (salmonella outbreaks), pollution, genetic engineering,
bioethics, the environment, and technological advancements. Do you truly
comprehend what is going on in the world today? With a fundamental
understanding of Biology, you will be a more educated, well rounded citizen.
8.) It is
worth observing things and nature and determine how the function.
“Our world is built on biology and once we begin
to understand it, it then becomes a technology.”
-Ryan
Bethencourt (scientist, entrepreneur, and biohacker)
Living things have evolved a solution for
almost all problems that nature has thrown at them. When we understand how
organism are solving problems and solving them human can then harness that
“technology” to solve problems of our own like curing disease or finding
alternative sources of energy. Being
in-tune to Biology could be very lucrative or better yet solve the worlds
problems.
9.) Biology builds
interpersonal skills and opens up career options.
Interpersonal skills are crucial to be
successful in life and in the workplace. In Biology you will learn how to
exercise self-awareness, communicate verbally and nonverbally in a clear
manner, be respectful of others, show empathy and understanding, engage in
active listening, behave appropriately, and be receptive to feedback.
There are many careers in Biology. The skills
that you learn and obtain in this class will be helpful in any career that you
choose to partake in. You will be dealing with Biology and those skills,
regardless of what career(s) you choose in life.
10.) This is
a fun subject if you give it a chance.
When some people think of Biology fun may not be the first thing to come into their mind. However, if you give it a chance and truly dive into and develop an understanding of the language and the concepts of Biology you will develop a deep appreciation and amazement of the course and the world the we live in. Biology is you, understanding you and all that you are is simply amazing.
The Biology curriculum at USBiologyTeaching.Com is a curriculum built for Biology teachers. With this Biology curriculum, teachers have every day of instruction planned out for them.
The Biology scope and sequence is a very helpful to any biology teacher who wants understand the pacing of this course and get a better understanding of how the Biology curriculum is arranged.
The following units are included in the USBiologyTeaching.Com (USBT) curriculum. The units do not have to be taught in this order however, it is the recommended sequence for the curriculum.
Experimental Design (Scientific Method)
Experimental design is covered over the first two units in the Biology curriculum. In the curriculum, students will explore the nature of science by making observations, asking questions, conducting research, constructing hypotheses, designing and conducting experiments. analyzing data and communicating their results.
Student explore the nature of science through a variety of hands-on engaging activities like the Meal Worm Lab. Starting the year off with experimental design allows teachers to engage their students and establish procedures.
You can get the first two units of this Biology curriculum here.
Characteristics of Life
In this unit, students explore the characteristics of life through hands-on engaging activities and discussions that will have them questioning their own understand of what it means to be alive.
Macromolecules
In this unit students, learn all about carbon compounds and the importance of the biological molecules in their own lives. Students explore this concept through a variety of activities including our very popular Macromolecule Boxing Activity. Students will also explore stomach contents to help determine the last meal of the deceased person in their case study.
Enzymes
In this unit, students use a lab experience to investigate the effects of pH, temperature , concentration and other factors on enzymes. Students also learn about the structure of enzymes and the induced fit model of enzyme action.
Cell Structure and Function
In this unit, student learn about cell theory and the basic cell structures and functions. Student will also learn how proteins are transported throughout the cell. Students also grapple with learning how to properly use a microscope to compare cells and observe their differences.
In this unit, student learn about how molecules get into and out of cells. Student will learn about passive and active transport. Students will complete a lab experience to investigate a case study about how salt could be the cause the wilted plants.
In this unit students dive into the inner workings of the chloroplast to learn how autotrophs are able to make sugar from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Students learn about the light reactions, Calvin cycle, alternate pathways and factors that affect photosynthesis.
Cellular Respiration
In this unit students dive into the inner workings of the mitochondria. Student learn about glycolysis, Krebs cycle, the electron transport chain and chemiosmosis. They also learn about the impact oxygen has on the amount of ATP generated.
Cell Reproduction
In this unit of the Biology curriculum, students explore the structure of chromosomes and learn about how and why cells divide. Students engage in a hands-on experience that will truly help them understand the process of cell division.
DNA Replication and Protein Synthesis
In this unit of the Biology curriculum students will extract DNA allowing them to visualize and connect with the concept of protein synthesis. Student will also work collaboratively to create a skit to model the process of protein synthesis.
Genetics
in this unit of the Biology Curriculum students explore their own traits and calculate probabilities of a Mendelian and Non-Mendelian inheritance patters. Students also build and analyze their pedigree charts.
Mutations and Biotechnology
In this unit students, explore the latest biotechnology innovations like CRISPER CAS 9, DNA profiling, 3D bioprinting, stem cell therapy and more. Student also explore various genetic mutations that the field of biotechnology has set out to cure or prevent.
Ecology
In this biology lesson plan (unit), students explore the complexity of the interactions that occur in ecosystems. This unit offers a hands-on approach that allows students to explore food webs, food chains, organism interactions and human impact on the environment.
Evolution
In this biology lesson plan (unit), students explore evolution by natural selection using a variety of hands-on activities and resources. Student learn about the evidence for evolution, population genetics and speciation,
Classification
In this unit in the biology curriculum, students learn about how organisms are classified and why the classification system is constantly changing as new methods for identifying relatedness are discovered. Students create their own dichotomous keys in addition to using dichotomous keys to classify some unique organisms.
Populations and Human Impact
In this unit students learn about how humans impact ecosystems. Students explore the growing human population and learn about the challenges human face with a growing human population.
Properties of Water
In this biology lesson plan unit, students learn about the importance of water and the unique properties it has that allows life to flourish.
Human Body Systems
In the unit of the biology curriculum, students learn about the general structure and function of the human body systems and how they interact with each other as one complex system.
In this video, I describe some of the strategies and thought process I used to create the Biology Curriculum here at USBiologyTeaching.Com.
After getting questions like the ones below I decided to create this video to help teachers have some direction when creating their own biology curriculum or biology lesson plans.
Questions about creating biology curriculum that are covered in the video:
How can I keep my biology students engaged?
How should I include biology assessments?
What biology lesson plan format should I use?
What biology resources should be included?
What all needs to be considered when creating a biology curriculum?
Using our Biology Scope and Sequence you will be able to present Biology content to your students in a logical manner.
Why is the Scope and Sequence arranged the way it is?
We are Biology teachers who have taught this course with well over 100 years of combined experience. We have debated, discussed and tweaked this order so it can be presented in a manner that we have found to be most successful.
Why doesn’t the Scope and Sequence include 180 days of instruction?
When you look at the total number of days that are written into the curriculum your will see two difference numbers (139/81).
One hundred and thirty nine days are planned out in our Full Biology Curriculum using (50) minute periods and eighty one days using (90 minute blocks).
As a team we discussed that we want to arrange the curriculum so that it could be flexible for teachers.
We wanted to save you time for reteaching, going over assessments, dealing with school-wide interruptions like large field trips, assemblies, school wide initiatives and local testing.
We also understand that every class is different and so is their pacing. With this flexibility you can take the extra time you need where you need it and still run a rigorous Biology Curriculum.
What if my state does not require everything that is in the USBT Curriculum?
In our Full Biology Curriculum detailed lesson plans, there are specific notes about areas that can be cut out or extended depending on your state’s requirements. For example, our Evolution unit includes speciation.
We know some states do not assess students on the speciation terminology so we created two separate assessments.
One assessment does not include speciation while the other does. There are also notes in the presentation to help guide the teacher so they know where the evolution assessment content ends and the speciation assessed content begins.
Materials List is Included
For our current members and future members we wanted to create a list of consumable materials that are used in each section of the curriculum. This list does not include general Biology lab supplies like microscopes, test tubes, beakers, pipettes ect.
When designing the Biology Curriculum we tried to make it economical yet engaging and hands-on. We assumed the teacher would only have access to a small budget for materials.
