Swine Flu Teaching Ideas

To illustrate how a virus can spread, conduct the following simulation with the class.

	Direct all students in the class to write their names on a piece of scratch paper and place it on your desk.
	Collect all of the pieces of paper and randomly choose the name of one student in the class and place it in an envelope. Do not allow students to see the name of the person.
	Make a chart with 5 columns on a large piece of paper, the board, or overhead.
	Choose a student (not the one whose name appears in the envelope) to go around the classroom and shake hands with four classmates.
	Record the name of that student at the top of column 1 and the names of the four classmates s/he shook hands with under his/her name. Then write their names at the top of the four remaining columns.
	Direct these four students to go around the classroom and shake hands with four other students.
	Under each person's name, record the names of the four students they shook hands with during the exercise.
	Open the envelope and reveal the name of the person who has the virus. Study the chart and see how many students were directly exposed to the virus by shaking this person's hand.
	Study the chart again and see how many students were indirectly exposed to the virus by shaking the hand of someone who had shaken the hand of the infected person. Use this activity to discuss how viruses are transmitted from one person to another, often unknowingly or before the signs of illness are present.
	Discuss how this can lead to epidemics of an illness in a relatively short period of time.