Activity
1. We are all drawn to some period in
history, perhaps to a culture that is in our own ethnic
background or possibly to some civilization that is worlds
apart from our own experiences. Ask the students to think
of all the different time periods and peoples they have
studied in school, seen portrayed in the movies, read
about in literature, or perhaps been told about by relatives.
What civilization at what point in its development resonates
with each student? Ask the students to write down what
cultures interest them the most and what aspects of those
cultures do they find intriguing.
2.
In a short class discussion ask students to share their
answers. Then
ask them to consider what they have
been studying in both science and history classes thus
far in the quarter and theorize which diseases the
culture they find interesting may have been afflicted
with. How
would certain diseases affect a culture, from the everyday
life of its citizens to the course that culture may
follow?
3.
While the impact of wars and famous people on a society
is often written about, there are also books
which explore
a time and a place in the midst of a serious epidemic.
Students will select a book to read over the next
week which has such a theme. Arrange ahead of time with
the school library to have books in the classroom
which
have
to do with society and disease. Possible titles which
you may easily find multiple copies of in a school
library include:
Fever
1793 by Laurie Hulls Anderson
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Plague by Albert Camus
The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton
An American Plague by Jim Murphy
(This is a high interest/low reading difficulty book)
4.
Students may also suggest titles to you. Any book which
explores the impact of a disease on a population
is acceptable; so books used in this lesson may
be factual, historical fiction, or science fiction.
5.
Explain to the students that there will be two written
activities in this two week learning
cycle, filling
out a matrix for the disease written about
in their novel
and writing a five paragraph theme about the
novel.
6.
Students will choose the novel they wish to read in the
time remaining in class.
7.
Inform the students that they will have the rest of the
week in class to read
their
novel,
fill out
the matrix,
and gather information to answer the following
question: How would certain diseases affect
a culture, from
the everyday life of its citizens to the
course that culture
may follow? How might this affect be reflected
in the literature of the time or about
the time?
8.
During the following week you may want to structure time
within the class period
for
students to respond
to the written responses needed for the
matrix and the larger question and also
for discussion
regarding
the
question.
Homework
Students
need to select a book that they will read for this learning
cycle. |
