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INVESTIGATING DISEASE AND PREVENTION WEBQUEST
Introduction
Epidemiology is the study of the causes of diseases.
Epidemiologists are scientists who conduct research into how
disease is spread among populations. Their investigations lead to
strategies for how to control and prevent the spread of illnesses.
Five diseases—cholera, the flu epidemic of the 20th
century, malaria, polio, and smallpox—are among many
diseases that have plagued people for centuries. What
different processes did scientists use to study these five
diseases? What were some of the misconceptions people
had about these diseases before scientists were able to
understand their causes and how to prevent them?
In this WebQuest, you will explore five different diseases that
have affected people throughout history to find the answers to
these questions. You will also create a timeline to describe the
history of one of these diseases and how it impacts worldwide
health today.
Task
Your job in this WebQuest is to learn about diseases that have
affected people for hundreds of years.
You will investigate five different diseases to learn how scientists
have worked to prevent their spread among populations. You
will answer a set of questions about these diseases and
their prevention to demonstrate what you have learned.
Once you've conducted some research to increase your
knowledge of these diseases and their prevention, you'll select
one of the diseases to investigate further. You'll create a
timeline that shows key dates in the study of that disease
as well as other dates and events that occurred during the
same period of time.
The purpose of the timeline is to show how scientific study has
led to discoveries that help prevent the spread of disease. You'll
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include a description of each date on the timeline and summarize
the current state of prevention of this disease.
Process
First, read through the following set of questions before
you begin your Internet research. As you explore each
site, look for answer to the questions.
Questions about Investigating Disease and Prevention
1. What different processes did scientists use to study
these five diseases?
2. What were some of the misconceptions people had
about these diseases before scientists were able to
understand their causes and how to prevent them?
3. How did John Snow use maps to study the spread of
cholera?
4. What were some of the misconceptions people had
about the cause of the flu epidemic of 1918?
5. How effective was Jonas Salk’s initial testing of the
polio vaccine?
6. What are some strategies used to prevent contracting
malaria?
7. What did Edward Jenner discover about the relationship
between smallpox and cowpox?
Next, visit the Web sites provided below to get more information
about one of the diseases you researched to create a timeline.
Your timeline should include important dates that led to
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discoveries about causes of and ways to prevent the disease.
Write a summary about the importance of each date. You should
also include dates and summaries in your timeline for other
relevant historic events of the period. The end of your timeline
should include a description of how the disease you researched
currently affects people around the world. You should have at
least 10 dates total. Five disease related dates and five other
relevant historic events.
Resources
Look at the web sites given here to find the information that will
help you answer questions about different diseases and their
prevention, and to gather information to use as you build your
timeline.
 http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/8
The Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science
describes John Snow's work in studying the causes and
prevention of cholera.
 http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/
ngo/
education/ideas912/912cholera.html
Visit this page on the National Geographic Web site to
learn more how John Snow used medical geography to
help understand the spread of cholera during the 1854
outbreak.
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/peo
pleevents/
pandeAMEX88.html
Find out about the flu epidemic of 1918 by visiting the
Influenza 1918 site on the Public Broadcasting System
Web site.
 http://www.stanford.edu/group/virus/uda/
Learn more about the influenza pandemic of 1918 by
visiting this page on the Stanford University Web site.
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entrie
s/dm52sa.html
Read about how the polio vaccine was produced and
tested at this page from the Public Broadcasting
System Web site.
 http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/CC/p
olio.html
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Find out more about how the polio vaccine was
developed on this page from Access Excellence.
 http://www.who.int/topics/malaria/en/
The World Health Organization provides information
about malaria.
 http://familydoctor.org/handouts/384.html
Read more about malaria by visiting this page on the
American Academy of Family Physicians Web site.
 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/
malaria/id319101.html
Visit the National Library of Medicine's interactive page
on malaria. You'll read about topics such as causes,
symptoms, and prevention of malaria.
 http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/misc/smallpox
_p2.html
Learn more about smallpox by investigate this
Kidshealth page.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/discovery/medici
ne/smallpox_02.shtml
Edward Jenner's study of smallpox is discussed on this
page from the British Broadcasting Corporation.
 http://www.jennermuseum.com/Jenner/cowpox
.html
The Jenner Museum describes the accomplishments of
British scientist Edward Jenner. Read about how Jenner
studied the relationship between cowpox and smallpox
on this page.
 http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/poliohistor
ypage.htm
Polio
You may use these resources to help you develop your timeline:
http://www.teacheroz.com/20thcent.htm
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/howtomake
atimeline1.htm
http://www.diseasedetectives.org/timeline
Cholera and Small Pox
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http://mim.globalhealthstrategies.com/blog/wpcontent/uploads/2009/10/Malaria-Timeline2.pdf
Malaria
http://www.cloudnet.com/~edrbsass/poliotimeline.htm
Polio
http://www.cdc.gov/about/history/timeline.htm
Center for Disease Control
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/peopleevents
/pandeAMEX88.html
Influenza
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