Introduction and Rationale
In this unit, students follow the work of a groundbreaking Black nurse whose empathy and understanding of science were critical in fighting an early 20th-century epidemic of tuberculosis in Philadelphia, in order to analyze the interaction of social issues and medical discoveries and then conduct their own research.
Students taking English IV in Philadelphia are expected to demonstrate mastery of argumentative writing, and the students at Vaux Big Picture High School have a further opportunity to earn dual enrollment credit by, in part, aligning their writing to a question of how developments in science and technology impact society. This unit is designed to scaffold students’ argumentative and research skills through a primary-source exploration of new tuberculosis understandings in the early twentieth century, and, specifically, the impact of nascent public health efforts in Philadelphia. Elizabeth W. Tyler arrived in Philadelphia in early 1914 to a slow-rolling epidemic, and her meticulous, comprehensive approach to the physical, emotional and even fiscal health of Black Philadelphians turned the tide. Students will gain a detailed understanding of one woman’s work and from that understanding examine the ways in which new knowledge can or cannot be most effectively analyzed and disseminated.
Over two weeks, working collaboratively, students will examine the scientific knowledge of tuberculosis in Tyler’s lifetime in order to identify how Tyler used sociological knowledge to spread new medical information. After completing this analysis as a model, students will shift to identifying a significant technological or medical advance in their future career field and analyze its impact and how it has or should be communicated. A collection of possible topics for student research and starting sources is included.
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