VOCABULARY LESSONS - 1 I. Words about disease virus – a kind of disease-causing organism. A virus is very small and not “alive” like bacteria. Viruses can take over human cells to create many copies of the virus. The coronavirus is one kind of virus. respiratory illness – respiratory = related to breathing and the lungs. Respiratory illnesses grow in our lungs and spread by little drops of water when we cough. They do not spread a long way or just by touching (but they can, if you touch a person’s hand after they coughed into it.) infection – a reaction in your body when disease gets inside. symptom – a sign of illness in the body, a way to see when someone is sick. Symptoms can be temperature, marks on the skin, or actions like coughing, sneezing, etc. fever / temperature – a high body temperature; fever is a way your body can fight disease. Human bodies are usually close to 98.6˚F/37˚C. A fever is a higher temperature, usually 100.5 or more (102.7˚ is when some hospitals recommend calling; over 104˚ can be harmful.) The numbers are different for children and for babies. dry cough – a cough with no other liquid, also called ‘nonproductive’. With some coughs (wet/productive) you can feel fluids moving from your lungs into your throat (where you can swallow or spit out). Dry coughs are just coughing. They can last for a long time. the flu / influenza – the flu is a common disease of many different varieties. There is a vaccine that can prevent flu if you get it early in the season. Coronavirus is not like the usual flu. a cold / the common cold – a cold is also a viral (virus) disease, but a different kind of virus that live in the nose/throat. There is no cure for colds except rest and they are usually not severe. Symptoms are coughing, sore throat, sneezing and stuffy nose or runny nose. allergies – reaction to things in the environment, usually plant pollen, dust or smoke, and some chemicals. Allergies (not food allergies) are common in this area because there are so many plants, trees and farms in the valley. Allergy symptoms are mainly irritated eyes/nose/throat. They are worst in spring, and there are medicines to reduce the effects. spread – to go from one person to another, to get wider, to move into new areas larger and larger. This word is usually used to talk about how disease move through the society and the number of sick people gets bigger. contagious – easy to spread from one person to another, through some contact (shared space, touching, etc.) Many diseases are contagious. Others cannot move from person to person (like cancer, or diabetes). Coronavirus is VERY contagious, so it spreads quickly and easily from one person to another. epidemic & pandemic – a disease in a large group of people is called an epidemic. A disease that is in all populations around the world is a pandemic. COVID-19 is now a pandemic – it’s in almost every country and still growing. VOCABULARY LESSONS - 1 II. Words in the news now unprecedented – it never happened before; we never saw it before; no one did it before. Closing down the country (and SCC) is unprecedented. It has never happened before, so it is new for everyone. We have no past experience to help us so we must do everything for the first time. exponential – sudden and increasing very fast; faster all the time. Many charts show the number of infections and deaths going up but almost straight up. When things grow, they are usually like this: but an exponential increase is more like this: prevent – to do something early to stop something bad later. If you wash your hands, you can prevent the disease from spreading. We didn’t have good virus tests earlier, so we couldn’t prevent the situation from getting worse. Be careful not to mix it up with “protect”. protect – to keep safe, to shelter or save someone/something. You can protect yourself by staying home and not interacting with people face to face for a while. Be careful not to mix it up with “prevent”. quarantine – staying inside a building for a long time to stop disease from spreading. The word origin is the word for 40 in Latin (quarant) meaning 40 days time. These days there is no specific number or time connected to the word. disinfectant – a chemical that can clean a surface or object (not inside the body) by killing the bacteria or destroying the viruses; usually a spray or liquid cleaner. Some common disinfectants are Lysol, bleach, and alcohol, as well as many others. Soap and water can also disinfect, but a disinfectant is usually very strong. hand sanitizer – a mixture of gel and strong alcohol (over 60% is best), which can clean your hands and kill germs (bacteria and viruses) on your skin. Soap and water is better (and cheaper), but sanitizer is good if you are not near water or don’t have soap. social distancing – social means people/society; distancing means staying apart, or away from. The idea of social distancing is that people who are alone or far apart cannot share a disease, or staying home can slow down the moving of the disease through society. Another similar word is “isolation”. flatten the curve – to change the number of sick people at one time, from “all sick at one time” to “some sick for a longer time”. There could be more sick people than hospital beds, for example. When more and more people get sick, the number goes up and the line goes up fast (see chart at bottom). If we slow down the spread with social distancing, the number of sick people will be big but not too fast. Everyone who needs a hospital will be able to go get help. The lower (blue) curve is “flattened”. VOCABULARY LESSONS - 1 III. Words about online instruction remote – from far away, from a distance, like the word “remove” or the remote control for your TV. Remote means you are getting your instruction and learning while you are not with or near your instructor (or classmates). You can do your class activities from your own home (= remotely). asynchronous – not at the same time. In classrooms, we meet all together at a specific day and time every week. That isn’t always possible online, if people are working or if they must share one computer at home. You meet when you can (at any time) or you do your work at different times than your classmates. digital divide – the difference between having and not having digital things (internet, computers, devices, online access). Some people have more or less money – rich or poor. When we look at students, for example, some have all the technology they need, but many do not – including friends and classmates. They are on the “other side” of a dividing line that puts society into two groups by their digital/online level. download – to get a computer program or application (app) from the Internet/online, and put it into your computer. We use the same word for documents, pictures and other things you can take or move from online to your device. Download just means “move” but to make it work or put it into your computer you need other verbs (“install”, “run”, “save”, etc.). chat – a short, easy conversation, usually very informal or casual or simple. Chats can be in person (face to face) or on the phone, but there are many apps that allow us to chat with words on the screen, or video (video chat). Chats are usually synchronous – at the same time, so there is no waiting and the conversation can go very fast (and get confusing if many people are there). “Zoom” – the name of one company and one app that gives us video conferences and online meetings. The college uses “Canvas” as a learning system online and Canvas uses “ConferZoom”. Many teachers are using it for class meetings, conferences, lectures and in other ways. If you download the program you can join your class with voice and video online. flexible – easy to change, able to move to new things. In an emergency, and in new situations, it’s always good to be flexible. Some people don’t like changing and don’t want to do things differently. “Nothing is permanent except change” – so we have to bend, move, and make many quick changes. supportive – from “support”, this adjective means “giving support”, “helping others”, or “doing something that makes life easier for others”. compassionate – sharing the feelings of others, having sympathy or understanding for how other people feel and wanting them to feel better. When we see someone who is suffering (stressed, sick, worried, etc.) we can feel like we want to help – that is compassion. interaction – talking with or working with someone, asking and answering questions, giving and taking ideas, even clicking on a screen to get what you want are all types of interaction. In the classroom you interact all the time, so online you must find ways to do it too. Send and answer emails, chat with your teacher and classmates, do online work and get a grade – that’s all interaction.
