WebQuest
Mosquitos and Public Health: Prevention for The General Public
Process
Step One
Each of you is assigned a specific focus. You may choose as a group which student will have which area of focus.
The focuses are:
Safety: You have been assigned as the panel member that focuses on safety. You are responsible for considering the safety of each of the methods referenced in the tips. A few questions you might address are: Are some of the tips or practices more dangerous than others? Is a higher amount of danger justified by the efficacy and results of the tip or practice? Are these tips safe for the average homeowner?
Efficacy: Your assignment is to be the panel member that looks at efficacy. You are responsible for considering how effective each individual tip will be. Some questions you should ask are: Does the tip or method successfully interrupt the mosquito life cycle? Will it have a direct effect on the daily lives of citizens? Is it something that citizens can do themselves? How easy is it to do this task?
Cost: It is your job to be the panel member that focuses on cost.You are responsible for considering the cost of each tip and the materials it requires. Some questions you might ask are: Are certain tips or techniques more costly to the general public? Are these costs prohibitive? Does something cheaper deliver the same results?
What Mosquito-borne Diseases Should I Worry About? -VIDEO
Stopping Mosquito-borne Diseases - Interactive slideshow
Mosquito Life Cycle
Avoiding Mosquito Bites
Stopping Mosquito-borne Diseases - Interactive slideshow
Mosquito Life Cycle
Avoiding Mosquito Bites
Pesticides:
What You Need to Know About Using Larvicides
What You Need to Know About Indoor Spraying
What You Need to Know About Using Adulticides
Using Repellent Products to Protect Against Mosquito-Borne Illnesses
What You Need to Know About Indoor Spraying
What You Need to Know About Using Adulticides
Using Repellent Products to Protect Against Mosquito-Borne Illnesses
Step Two
In the second step, you need to make a list of the tips or practices and rank them from lowest to highest in terms of your category. This list should only have 10 tips from the overall list that your group prepared in step 1. Additionally, you need to provide a sentence or two for each tip as to why you ordered your list in this manner. At the end of this step you should have a list that is individualized to your specific area of focus, and a sentence or two for the placement of each tip. You will have one day, or one night's homework assignment, to complete this step.
Step Three
In this step, you should compare and contrast your lists with your group mates. You should then combine all of your lists to create a final list which contains the 10 best tips or practices when all areas of focus are taken into account. Take a few minutes to take a note of the pros and cons of each tip on your lists. How do they compare? Where to the pros outweigh the cons? You must also write a few (1-2) paragraphs explaining why you included these steps. You will have one day, and one night's homework assignment to complete this step.
Example Project:
For this example, assume that I have been assigned to assist the public in avoiding the flu. For the sake of brevity, I will only list 3 steps or tips, rather than the 10 that you must provide.
Step 1:
My group decided on the three steps of: washing your hands, getting the flu vaccine, and avoiding those who are sick.
Step 2:
In this step, you should compare and contrast your lists with your group mates. You should then combine all of your lists to create a final list which contains the 10 best tips or practices when all areas of focus are taken into account. Take a few minutes to take a note of the pros and cons of each tip on your lists. How do they compare? Where to the pros outweigh the cons? You must also write a few (1-2) paragraphs explaining why you included these steps. You will have one day, and one night's homework assignment to complete this step.
Example Project:
For this example, assume that I have been assigned to assist the public in avoiding the flu. For the sake of brevity, I will only list 3 steps or tips, rather than the 10 that you must provide.
Step 1:
My group decided on the three steps of: washing your hands, getting the flu vaccine, and avoiding those who are sick.
Step 2:
Safety:
1. Wash your hands
2. Avoid contact with those who are sick
3. Get a flu vaccine.
Washing your hands is first on the list and avoiding contact with those who are sick is second. My reasons for this are both washing your hands and avoiding contact with those who are sick present virtually zero risk, and are entirely safe. Therefore these two steps were first on the list. Although the flu vaccine is, for all practical purposes, 100% safe there is still a risk of having a minor adverse reaction (itching at the injection site, etc...). As such, although the vaccine is safe and effective, it was placed third on the list
Washing your hands is first on the list and avoiding contact with those who are sick is second. My reasons for this are both washing your hands and avoiding contact with those who are sick present virtually zero risk, and are entirely safe. Therefore these two steps were first on the list. Although the flu vaccine is, for all practical purposes, 100% safe there is still a risk of having a minor adverse reaction (itching at the injection site, etc...). As such, although the vaccine is safe and effective, it was placed third on the list
Efficacy:
1. Wash your hands
2. Getting the flu vaccine
3. Avoiding those who are sick
Washing your hands is the best, and easiest, way in which to prevent getting sick from a virus. Therefore it is number one on the list. Getting a flu vaccine is relatively cheap, often very effective, and relatively easy to do. Therefore, it is second on the list. Avoiding those who are already sick is third on the list for a number of reasons. The first is that simply avoiding people who are sick does not guarantee that you won't get sick. Viruses can lay dormant on inanimate objects, and as such you may pick it up from an object, not a person. Additionally, it is sometimes impractical completely avoid anyone that is sick. Often times you must be in relatively close proximity to someone that is sick while at school or at your job. Overall, because avoiding those who are sick is less practical and effective, it was placed in the third spot.
Cost:
1. Wash your hands
1. Wash your hands
2. Getting the flu vaccine
3. Avoiding those who are sick
Washing your hands is the best, and easiest, way in which to prevent getting sick from a virus. Therefore it is number one on the list. Getting a flu vaccine is relatively cheap, often very effective, and relatively easy to do. Therefore, it is second on the list. Avoiding those who are already sick is third on the list for a number of reasons. The first is that simply avoiding people who are sick does not guarantee that you won't get sick. Viruses can lay dormant on inanimate objects, and as such you may pick it up from an object, not a person. Additionally, it is sometimes impractical completely avoid anyone that is sick. Often times you must be in relatively close proximity to someone that is sick while at school or at your job. Overall, because avoiding those who are sick is less practical and effective, it was placed in the third spot.
Cost:
1. Wash your hands
2. Getting the flu vaccine
3. Avoid contact with those who are sick.
Washing your hands is simple, and cheap. There is nothing that is cost prohibitive for the average citizen. Therefore it is placed first on the list. The flu vaccine is placed second on the list because although there is a minimal cost to getting vaccinated, it is usually manageable. Avoiding contact with those who are sick would seem to be less expensive than a vaccination, however when you take into consideration that to avoid those who are sick an individual may need to skip working, there could be a significant cost. Therefore it is placed third on the list.
Step 3:
Our overall list is:
1. Wash your hands
2. Get the flu vaccine
3. Avoid contact with those who are sick
3. Avoid contact with those who are sick.
Washing your hands is simple, and cheap. There is nothing that is cost prohibitive for the average citizen. Therefore it is placed first on the list. The flu vaccine is placed second on the list because although there is a minimal cost to getting vaccinated, it is usually manageable. Avoiding contact with those who are sick would seem to be less expensive than a vaccination, however when you take into consideration that to avoid those who are sick an individual may need to skip working, there could be a significant cost. Therefore it is placed third on the list.
Step 3:
Our overall list is:
1. Wash your hands
2. Get the flu vaccine
3. Avoid contact with those who are sick
I will not provide one to two paragraphs, however I will provide a few sentences explaining my reasoning.
Washing your hands was number 1 on the list because it was number one in each of the three individual lists. It is cheap, effective, and safe. Getting the flu vaccine was second on the list because it was in the second spot on 2 of the 3 lists. The pros (e.g. relatively cheap, safe, effective) of getting vaccinated put it above avoiding contact, while the cons (e.g. more expensive than washing your hands, a possible adverse reaction such as itching at the injection site) put it below washing your hands. Avoiding contact with those who are sick is third on the list because it was ranked third in 2 of the 3 lists. In this case, the only pro is that it may, theoretically speaking, be safer than a getting the flu shot. This was not weighted heavily in the process because the vaccines are virtually 100% safe. Additionally, the cons of avoiding contact with those that are sick (e.g. potentially skipping work, being impractical, etc..) place it below both washing your hands and getting the flu vaccine.
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