Engineering of Global Health

Introduction

In a letter to Benjamin Rush in July 1773 Benjamin Franklin wrote, “I have long been satify’d from Observation, that besides the general Colds now termed Influenza’s, which may possibly spread by Contagion as well as a particular Quality of the Air, People catch Cold from one another when shut up together in small close Rooms, Coaches, and when sitting near and conversing… I think too that it is the frowzy corrupt air from animal Substances, and perspired Matter from our Bodies… which infect us…”¹  There are many times when you are in close quarters with others; riding the bus or the L, in and out of an Uber, teaching five classes of thirty students, concerts, etc. In all of these situations microbes are airborne and abundant on surfaces, constantly.

“Achoo,” you hear from the person nearest to you. It is that time of year, cold (or flu) season, mostly in the Spring or Fall according to the CDC.² You ask yourself, “Did I get a vaccine? Am I protected? Where is my hand sanitizer? Is it feasible to walk around in a bubble? I really do not want to be sick, please do not let me catch that.” If you are a teacher like me then more often than not you are hoping that your students who are sneezing, do it into the inner crest of their elbow to prevent their airborne microbes get all over your classroom and spreading to the remaining hundreds of students you have yet to see. You are also appreciating whoever taught them to sneeze in that elbow-covered fashion.

The common cold is so common that there are 99+ variations of the most common virus, the Rhinovirus.  Treatment is so far only palliative as no vaccination and approved antivirals are available for rhinovirus infections because of the usually annoying but uncomplicated course of the disease, only drugs without side effects will be accepted by otherwise healthy patients.³ For a reasonably healthy person, their immune system can identify, fight and protect the body against the cold. However, for those who are ill, especially with a respiratory disease, the cold can be deadly. How do you best protect yourself and others from catching a cold? How do you best prevent the spreading your cold?

Background Environment

School of Excellence is categorized as a turnaround school. In the Chicago Public Schools district schools that do not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) for several consecutive years are often recommended for closure or turnaround. With that, the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) in conjunction with local universities supports a program that specially trains teachers to support their mission in their turnaround schools. Typically, about 25% of the staff will return post turnaround; however, that did not happen at Marquette. Currently, my school has 1,149 students enrolled. Marquette has a diverse population with 60% of our student body being Hispanic and 37% being African-American. About 97% of the students are from low-income homes, 24% mobility rate, 29% of students with limited English skills, and 9% of enrolled students are diverse learners.⁴ Students within Chicago Public Schools (CPS) predominately experience science in their middle school years through three different strands: physical science, life science, and Earth science. Some schools elect to teach an integrated program in which each strand is taught within every grade. In most schools, each strand is taught in isolation, though making cross-connections of disciplinary ideas between strands. At my school, seventh grade science, uncovers the big ideas around life, both microscopic and macroscopic life.

Over the course of the year students unpack big ideas from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These standards include LS1: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes: How can one explain the ways cells contribute to the function of living organisms?, LS2: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics Relationships in Ecosystems: How does a system of living and non-living things operate to meet the needs of the organisms in an ecosystem?, LS3: Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits: How do living organisms pass traits from one generation to the next?, and LS4: Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity: How do living organisms pass traits from one generation to the next?⁵ Teaching life science for the past four of my six years through a model-based inquiry approach has allowed me to push the envelope of how my students learn. Contrary to the past, students discover the disciplinary core ideas through investigation then support the ideas with evidence of their own. Every unit has an overarching question that drives the learning and to help students explain their thinking, explanatory models are used.

Whom the Unit Serves

My students are some of the most amazing people I have ever been fortunate to know, let alone teach. The vast majority of my students are not native English speakers, they have either exited out of the bilingual program or are working towards exiting. In middle school, we do not have specific English language learning (ELL) classrooms. Students learning the language are fully immersed into the general education setting. As their teacher I provide modifications and accommodations to the curriculum to support their understanding through the English language. Their supports do vary slightly from those who hold an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). This past school year, I inherited four students in the third quarter and one in the fourth. Since I have a higher rate of mobility, planning and executing Model Based Inquiry (MBI) does pose its struggles as well. However, I provide multiple activities for students to gain an understanding of the science content.