Stimulating Understanding of Computational science through Collaboration, Exploration, Experiment, and Discovery for students with Hearing Impairments
a collaboration of the Shodor Education Foundation, Inc., Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, Barton College, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Interpreters, Inc.

For Teachers!

Flu Model

Goal: This lesson will give the students experience using a computer model to answer the following questions: 
How does a disease like the flu move through a community? Does it matter if you start with one sick person or a bus full? Do sick leave policies have an impact on the spread of the flu? If a vaccine were available, how many people would need to get the shot to protect the city from the epidemic? What is the economic impact for a company with different sick leave and vaccination policies?

Objectives: National Science Education Standards
PROPOSE DESIGNS AND CHOOSE BETWEEN ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS. Students should demonstrate thoughtful planning for a piece of technology or technique. Students should be introduced to the roles of models and simulations in these processes.  PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY HEALTH. Personal choice concerning fitness and health involves multiple factors. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN LOCAL, NATIONAL, AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES Science and technology are essential social enterprises, but alone they can only indicate what can happen, not what should happen. The latter involves human decisions about the use of knowledge. [See Content Standard E (grades 9-12)] Understanding basic concepts and principles of science and technology should precede active debate about the economics, policies, politics, and ethics of various science- and technology-related challenges. However, understanding science alone will not resolve local, national, or global challenges.

Prerequisites:

• The students will need to understand that viruses and bacteria can cause disease.
• The students should be able to convert decimals to percents ie. .3 to 30%
• The students should know how to use a mouse to navigate web pages
• If the Stella model is used they must know how to open graphs and run simulations.

• comupter with internet or CD of this lesson.
• Java or Stella Flu Model

Developed by
The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

Copyright © 1999-2001 by The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.