Name:.........................................................
Form:................
Science Teacher:................
Year 9
Science Extended homework
Towards the end of March 2014, almost 70 people have died in Guinea from a disease caused by the
Ebola virus.
“At least 69 people have now died from the Ebola outbreak in Guinea although the authorities believe
they have managed to isolate the problem to the country’s remote south east. In the meantime the
consumption and selling of bats – a local delicacy In Guinea – has been banned after scientists
identified the animal as being one of the main agents for the spreading of the deadly disease. Doctors
such as Mamadou Saliou Bah are now urging prevention in a two pronged attack against the virus.
“Guineans should get into prevention. This prevention means in the first instance not to consume
everything that is a rodent and can carry disease. By rodents I mean rats, bats, and raw monkey
meat, which unfortunately we still find being eaten in forest areas.” The disease has already spread to
Sierra Leone and Liberia but in Ivory Coast where the disease has not yet appeared, the authorities
are banning bush meat as their own a preventative measure. The Ebola virus can reside in monkeys,
rodents and bats and be passed on to the humans. Ebola causes fever, vomiting and external and
internal bleeding and has an over 70 percent fatality rate. There is no known cure.”
Name:.........................................................
Form:................
Science Teacher:................
Edward Jenner is known as the “Father of Immunology”. If he had not observed the link between
cow pox in milk maids and the resistance it offered to smallpox then who knows if we would have
ever had immunisation programmes. Many people at the time did not believe Edward Jenner, in fact
some even threatened him with death. Today, in some countries volunteers who are administrating
vaccination programmes are being killed because some fear that there is some sort of conspiracy.
Today we have mass vaccination programmes for many diseases. Some diseases have virtually been
eradicated.
Homework:
Design a “Public information document/booklet” that can be given out in GP surgeries. It
must be colourful and informative.
You must detail at least two diseases of your choice. You need to state the following information and
also include diagrams/pictures/photos:
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Causes e.g. Bacteria
Signs and symptoms
Susceptibility
Transmission
Mechanism
Diagnosis
Prevention
Vaccine/treatment
History or notable cases
If you are undecided about which diseases to choose then you could pick from the following
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Tetanus
Cholera
Tuberculosis
AIDS
Measles
Glandular fever
Chickenpox
Swine influenza
Hand, foot and mouth disease