Since I couldn't load my file into the wiki (still trying to figure it out!), here is my assignment:
Brief Description: Title: Whooping Cough Epidemic?
Author: Kelly Burke
Descrption: CA has declared an epidemic of Whooping Cough. Students will analyze data from LA County, CA, and the CDC. In addition, they will search for current data and news articles to answer the questions: Are we in a normal disease cycle, and will it become a national epidemic? In addition, since 80% of cases are in Hispanics they will propose possible reasons for this. Students will graph data and present graphs and arguments in a Glog. Students will critique other groups in a round-robin and individuals will write a final argument after a class discussion.
Whooping Cough Epidemic?
Generate An Argument: Based on the Instructional Model by Victor Sampson and Jonathon Grooms
From the CA State Department of Health:
WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC MAY BE WORST IN 50 YEARS
Date: 6/23/2010
Number: 10-041
Contact: Al Lundeen (916) 440-7259
SACRAMENTO
Urging Californians to get vaccinated now, Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), warned today that the state is on pace to suffer the most illnesses and deaths due to pertussis, also known as whooping cough, in 50 years.
“Whooping cough is now an epidemic in California,” Horton said. “Children should be vaccinated against the disease and parents, family members and caregivers of infants need a booster shot.”
As of June 15, California had recorded 910 cases of pertussis, a four-fold increase from the same period last year when 219 cases were recorded. Five infants — all under three months of age — have died from the disease this year. In addition, 600 more possible cases of pertussis are being investigated by local health departments.
Pertussis is cyclical. Cases tend to peak every two to five years. In 2005, California recorded 3,182 cases and eight deaths.
Pertussis is a highly contagious disease. Unimmunized or incompletely immunized young infants are particularly vulnerable. Since 1998, more than 80 percent of the infants in California who have died from pertussis have been Hispanic.
From: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/NR10-041.aspx
Accessed 7/7/10
California has officially announced that Pertussis is epidemic in CA. Other states are reporting increases. Are we in a cyclic epidemic in CA? Is a national epidemic likely?
Your assignment: You will work in groups to review current information and historical data on the disease Pertussis, also known as Whooping Cough (causative agent, Bordatella pertussis). Each group will review and graph data, research new data and current news articles regarding the epidemic in CA and in other parts of the US. Based on your research and analysis you will answer the following questions:
Are we in a cyclic epidemic in CA? Is a national epidemic likely?
In addition, you will propose possible reasons for the rise in whooping cough and the high incidence of the disease in the Hispanic population. Make sure that you have good evidence and reasoning to support your argument and explanation.
With your group look up data on the following sites:
LA County Public Health: These tables show the annual morbidity data for Bordatella pertussis from 2001 to 2008. Graph the morbidity rate vs. year for all years.
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/acd/diseases/Pertussis.pdf
CDC: This table shows the rates of several diseases from selected years in the range from 1950-2007. Cull the rates for Pertussis and graph them.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus09.pdf#047
Table 47
Research the current rates of Pertussis in CA and the US for the years 2009 and 2010. If possible add this information to your graphs.
Research news articles and review whooping cough information on the CDC’s website. www.cdc.gov
Interactive Poster Session:
Your group will create a Glog to present your information, graphs, and main points of your argument. You must include the following on your poster: The questions you are trying to answer, your graphs, the main points of your claim, and your evidence and rationale, and the names of your group members. The format and design are up to you, but should be clear and somewhat straightforward. Graphics and design elements that are distracting should not be used.
You will share your work in a round-robin fashion. One member will stay with the poster while other members will view the other posters and hear and critique the groups’ rationales. In order to critique the other presentations you will use the guidelines developed by Victor Sampson and Jonathon Grooms:
“Remember, as you critique the work of others, you have to decide whether their conclusions are valid or acceptable based quality of their explanation and how well they are able to support their ideas. In other words, you need to determine if their argument is persuasive and convincing. To do this, ask yourself the following questions:
• Is their explanation sufficient (i.e., it explains everything it needs to) and coherent (i.e., it is free from contradictions)?
• Did they use genuine evidence (i.e., They organized their data in a way that shows a trend over time, a relationship between variables, or a difference between groups)?
• Did they use enough evidence to support their ideas (i.e., They used more than one piece of evidence and all their ideas are supported by evidence)?
• Is there any counterevidence that does not support their explanation?
• How well does their explanation fit with other theories and laws that are used in science to explain or describe how the world works?
• Is their rationale adequate (i.e., They explain why the evidence was used and why it supports the explanation)?
• Is their reasoning appropriate (rational and sound)? “
Sampson, V. and Grooms, J. (2010). Generate an Argument: An Instructional Model. The Science Teacher, 77(5), 32-37.
TIP!
Since you will be using these criteria to critique other groups, you might use them to assess your own
posters as you develop your argument and design your posters.
Reflection: After reviewing the other posters, your group will meet to discuss their findings. You will also discuss possible improvements to your argument/posters and identify additional work or research that might be done to improve or refine your argument. The class will have a brief discussion on the whole and then each individual will turn in a final written argument.
Sampson and Grooms Scoring Rubric will be used by the instructor to score the arguments:
http://www.nsta.org/highschool/connections/201007SampsonRubric.pdf
Accessed 7/7/10
wow! this is a really well-organized assignment on a timely and important health topic. i was particularly interested in reading through your activity because when my son, who is now 23, was given the first innoculation of the DPT booster when he was very young, he had a really serious reaction and did not complete the series, so he is potentially vulnerable to outbreaks. I think it's since been documented that his reaction was not all that rare. In any case, I think your students would really get into this activity; it's not just straight medicine either, as it brings in an aspect of the immigration issue.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Vaccinations are an interesting topic for that very reason I think--the societal aspects. There are often a lot of factors--immigration/cultural, how long the vaccine "lasts", opt-ing out, which decreases herd immunity (herd immunity protects the unvaccinated), etc. In addition, as the vaccinated population increases, we may be less exposed to the disease, which can ironically decrease our development of natural immunity...Glad your son is ok!
ReplyDeleteKelly great assignment. I like the questions you provided students to ask each other in the poster session. I wish I had done that. A few years ago a student came down with whooping cough in our school. Our student news show tried to make light of a scary situation and included this skit in one of their episodes. You might get a kick out of it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmKCWBSFUI4
Righteous!
ReplyDelete