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The Common Cold Kit contains interactive instructional materials that cover how viruses cause the common cold, why colds keep coming back, and the latest experimental treatments for the common cold. You also study the geometry of viruses important in respiratory disease. This kit includes templates for building paper virus models, Virus Hunters and The Sneeze Machine laboratories, transparencies for the teachers and instruction booklets on "Why we keep catching the common cold?"
The Common Cold Kit includes transparencies that illustrate the size and shape of viruses, the close packing of rhinoviruses in infected cells and a sample problem-solving activity for the classroom. After realizing how frequently viruses occur in our everyday lives, students can build virus models and study how these minute microbes can change over time in our environment. They construct paper models of the common cold viruses in an Origami-like procedure. The concepts of stability and close packing are introduced through an exercise that has students packing their models into a school locker. This exercise allows you to simulate how rhinoviruses fill space efficiently in infected nasal epithelial cells.
Virus Hunters & The Sneeze Machine is a new critical thinking skills laboratory that illustrates the principles of Epidemiology. This laboratory simulates how disease can be spread in an aerosol spray using harmless yeast, hydrogen peroxide, various colored food dyes and The Sneeze Machine. Students learn how the common cold spreads from person (or object) to person. In addition they investigate how to stop virus infections with a "virus blocker". Their findings will help them learn that structural knowledge of viruses can lead us directly to patient treatment. They see the effects of good hygiene. Thus they are challenged to think critically as they discover principles of Epidemiology and Antiviral research.
Finally students are assigned various Virus Hunters in the history of Medicine and apply their research to current health issues. The learning experience is very exciting as they put together all the concepts applied to answering the question "Why we keep catching the Common cold?"
Heather
D. Mayor D.Sc., Ph.D.
Alan
L. Gillen Ed.D.
