In early February, before COVID19 hit US soil and in the early days of this spreading virus the boys began learning about exponential growth through the lens of the flu. And while we were able to discuss coronavirus and learn about it the truth was the project was a little "too early”. Data was scarce, knowledge about the disease lacking.
That said, the product we did come up with tells a story of its own. It informs the public of the dangers of a virus, the need for immunization to keep people healthy and what we need to be doing in our daily lives to help reduce risk for all. The conversation about the flu gave these boys insight and much thought about all that is happening today. It’s not enough to only think about ourselves… we need to go beyond!
Here are a few of our resources…
Driving Question: The flu virus is one that has the potential to grow at an exponential rate throughout our community, how can we ensure that we stay healthy and “flu-free”?
Extra Questions we used to Consider:
What do we know about the flu? What do we know about vaccination?What do we know about the values of our community as it pertains to the flu?
Outside Resource to Base the Math Around
Feel free to use this and continue to extend thinking to today’s global crisis and pandemic. Conversations like this can extend far beyond the math class as we consider how our population is responding.
*** Next year I will start and end with a question about the flu vaccine. Something along the lines of “Is getting the flu vaccine a personal decision? Mine and Mine alone? Does my getting it or not getting it only impact me?” I want the boys to reflect on how the decision may impact others.
*** In terms of Covid-19, “Should social isolation be a choice or a mandate?” We used this resource in class to have a discussion 6 weeks post project (3/10).
