Sixth Grade, Pandemics – COVID-19 Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 2)

Model How Herd Immunity Works

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

22 reviews

Have you ever wondered why you need to get a flu shot regularly? The vaccine protects you from getting sick with the flu, which is an infectious disease. Such diseases, like the flu or COVID-19, can easily spread through a population and cause a pandemic by making many people sick. Measures such as social distancing can reduce the risk of catching the disease, but real protection only comes from gaining immunity against the disease. This is the reason for vaccinations—to make someone… Read more

Can Herd Immunity Combat Viral Epidemics like COVID-19?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

One strategy you may have heard suggested for dealing with the COVID-19 epidemic is to let nature take its course and let COVID-19 infect enough of the population for us to reach the herd immunity threshold. Does this make sense as a public health strategy? You can explore this question scientifically using SimPandemic, a free online tool for modeling infectious disease outbreaks. Before you begin, you will need to know a bit about herd immunity. Herd immunity, sometimes called community… Read more

Preventing Outbreaks with Herd Immunity

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

What is herd immunity, how is it achieved, and what impact does it have on outbreaks? Students will explore these questions and more in this lesson plan. They will then use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model different levels of viral immunity in communities to understand how a population can reach the herd immunity threshold and the impacts that has on individuals and populations during a COVID-19 outbreak. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. … Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-8. Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Program Your Own COVID-19 or Flu Simulator with Scratch

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

31 reviews

Are you curious about how public health officials think about and model how diseases like flu and COVID-19 move from one person to another? In this activity, you will use the kid-friendly programming language Scratch to write a simulation that uses bouncing dots to represent healthy and sick people. The simulation will show how we can take measures to slow the spread of a transmissible disease. Read more

Comparing COVID-19 Variants: A Real-World Look at the Effect of Mutations

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

1

2

3

4

5

4 reviews

We hear about COVID-19 variants all the time, but what is a virus variant, how do they come about, and why do they matter? Students will explore these question and more in this lesson plan. They will use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model what COVID-19 outbreaks look like when communities are exposed to different COVID-19 variants and understand how genetic mutations in a virus can lead to functional changes. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

DIY Face Mask

STEM Activity

1

2

3

4

5

13 reviews

To slow the spread of COVID-19, the CDC recommends wearing a mask or cloth face covering—particularly in places where it is impossible to maintain social distancing (staying at least 6 feet away from others). This recommendation is for everyone age two or older (children under the age of two should not wear masks). Many instructions to make your own mask are available online. This activity will help you think through the process of designing and making a mask as an engineering problem.… Read more

How Can Vaccines Be Used to Fight Outbreaks?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Stopping a viral outbreak like COVID-19 takes more than luck, it takes public health tools. Vaccines are considered to be one of the best public health tools, which is why there is often a rush to develop good vaccines for newly discovered viruses, particularly those that have the potential to infect lots of people. Recent examples include COVID-19, Zika virus, and Ebola. If enough people are vaccinated, an effective vaccine can help stop outbreaks or even eradicate (completely get rid of) a… Read more

How R Naught (R₀) Shapes an Epidemic

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

1

2

3

4

5

1 review

What is R naught (R₀), what factors influence it, and how does it shape the infection curves of an epidemic? Students will explore these questions and more in this lesson plan. They will then use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model what a COVID-19 outbreak looks like in communities with different R₀ values. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. Students can work independently on the Explore section of the lesson plan using the Student… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-8. Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Model How R naught (R₀) Shapes an Epidemic

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Even during a global pandemic like COVID-19, there are differences in how the epidemic unfolds within communities. Some communities see early, large waves of infected individuals, while others see smaller numbers of infections over a longer period of time, and others may not appear to have an epidemic at all. Could R₀ (pronounced R naught), account for some of this variation? R₀, the basic reproduction number of a disease, quantifies how many people, on average, an infected… Read more

Tracking a Virus

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-8th

1

2

3

4

5

1 review

Students simulate the spread of a virus such as HIV through a population by "sharing" (but not drinking) the water in a plastic cup with several classmates. Although invisible, the water in a few of the cups has already be tainted with the "virus" (sodium carbonate). After all the students have shared their liquids, the contents of the cups are tested for the virus with phenolphthalein, a chemical that causes a striking color change in the presence of sodium carbonate.… Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS1-3. Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.

Sixth Grade, Pandemics – COVID-19 Projects, Lessons, Activities (22 results)

Explore Our Science Videos