Exhibition Guide for Infectious Disease: Evolving Challenges to Human Health
 HOW IS THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE CORRELATED WITH THE NATIONAL SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS?
Fieldtrips to the Koshland Science Museum are modeled on recommendations made in the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996). Through the information presented and opportunities to interact with hands-on displays, the Global Warming Facts & Our Future exhibition meets the following Inquiry and Science Content standards.
For Middle School Students
Content Standard A – Science as Inquiry
“All students should develop understandings about scientific inquiry.”
“Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations”
Students have an opportunity to think critically and logically about infectious diseases, how different organisms contribute to disease, and how scientists use scientific information to approach and solve current issues in world health. Students use graphs, charts, and interactive displays to formulate their own dicisions about the data. In this way, students consider how science makes use of logical analysis and problem solving.
Content Standard C - Life Science
“All students should develop an understanding of structure and function in living systems and diversity and adaptations of organisms.”
Students discover the differences between bacteria, viruses and parasites. They also explore examples of different organisms that are responsible for distinct diseases and that control of disease relies on knowledge of the biology of the causative organism. Students discover how exponential growth and fast mutation rates provide microbes an evolutionary advantage in a changing environment. Other rotations focus on the emergence of bacterial resistance and how some diseases elude effective vaccination.
Content Standard E – Science and Technology
“Students should develop understandings about science and technology”
Students enhance their understandings of how sciecne and technology work together in generating new knowledge. In their expert groups, students use their understandings of microbes and disease to investigate how science has develop technologies and practices to combat disease. Students are introduced to the history of antibiotics and vaccines, as well as public health measures including sanitation and clean water. These modern developments have curbed infectious disease significantly in the developed world.
Content Standard F - Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
“All students should develop an understanding of personal health, populations, resources and environments, risks and benefits, and science and technology in society.”
Students will also use interactive displays to explore how social and cultural barriers can impede public health and medical technologies from being implemented in less developed countries. For example, the lack of vaccines and cultural taboos in Sfrica are two formidable foes in combating the spread of HIV. Students will discuss the risks and benefits of delivering antimalarial and antibacterial drugs, especially within the economic constraints of less–developed countries. Students will also learn how decisions that ultimately target far–away places can impact our personal health, especially in an age where increases globalization means increased migration of people around the planet.
Content Standard G – History and the Nature of Science
“All students should develop understanding of science as a human endeavor and of the history of science”
Students learn about the history of the development of antibiotics and the first vaccines and explore the advent of public health policy. Technological advances and policy decisions have drastically improved health in the U.S. in the past 100 years. Using a timeline, students observe the numerous scientists who have contributed to the development of medicine. A graph illustrates how scientific advances and legislation have greatly curbed infectious diseases in this country.
For High School Students
Content Standard A – Science as inquiry
“All students should develop understandings about scientific inquiry”
Students have an opportunity to think critically and logically about infectious diseases, how different organisms contribute to disease, and how scientists use scientific information to approach and solve current issues in world health. Students use graphs, charts, and interactive displays to formulate their own decisions about the data. In this way, students consider how science makes use of logical analysis and problem solving. The current events presented in these exhibits highlight the many complex difficulties involved in providing health care worldwide and encourage students to think deeply and broadly about the challenges of solving world health problems.
Content Standard C – Life Science
“All students schould develop an understanding of the cell, biological evolution, and interdependence of organisms”
Students will be introduced to the differences between bacteria, viruses, and parasites and the different types of diseases they cause. Students will also focus on the evolutionary potential of microbes, namely their ability to mutate and grow rapidly. Malaria is introduced as a disease with two hosts – mosquito and human – and thus, this parasite depends on two organisms for its life cycle. Other rotations focus on how infectious disease organisms depend on a human or other host for their survival and reproduction.
Content Standard E – Science and Technology
“All students should develop understandings about science and technology”
Students enhance their understanding of how science and technology work together to generate new knowledge. Students use their understanding of microbes and disease to investigate how science has developed technologies and practices to combat disease. Throughout the exhibit, students see examples of how understanding the underlying biology of disease has led scientists to develop technologies to prevent or sometimes cure infectious diseases. For example, students learn about how antibiotics and vaccines were developed, and their resulting effect on public health. Furthermore, sewer and water purification systems have improved public health immeasurably, and speak to the importance of innovative engineering. Scientifically savvy policymakers improved public health by developing legislation to prevent contagious infectious disease. These modern technologies have curbed infectious disease significantly in the developed world.
Content Standard F – Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
“All students should develop an understanding of personal and community health and of population growth.”
Using evidence and logical thinking, students develop an understanding of the magnitude of the effect of infectious disease and the tremendous technological and sociological barriers to combating disease worldwide. For example, the lack of vaccines and cultural taboos in Africa are two formidable foes in combating the spread of HIV. Students will weigh the risks and benefits of delivering antimalarial and antibacterial drugs in second and third world countries. Students see how medical technology and public health will affect their lives, both as individuals susceptible to infectious diseases as members of a global community. Students are asked about the need for and implications of greater public understanding public health worldwide.
Content Standard G – History and Nature of Science
“All students should develop understanding of science as a human endeavor and of the nature of scientific knowledge.”
Students learn about the history of the development of antibiotics and the first vaccines and explore the advent of public health policy. Technological advances and policy decisions have drastically improved health in the U.S. in the past 100 years. Using a timeline, students observe the numerous scientists who have contributed to the development of medicine. A graph illustrates how scientific advances and legislation have greatly curbed infectious diseases in this country.
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