Understanding Viruses Video Notes
Integrated Science 2
Name:
Per:
1. What is a virus’s only task?
2. What are some of the viruses that the movie names?
3. Can you see a virus with a light microscope?
4. Describe the structure of a typical virus.
5. Why were outbreaks of diseases in the past limited in scope (area of outbreak, number of people infected)?
6. The 1918 influenza was the worst pandemic in history. The movie gives startling statistics for how many people
died during this flu outbreak. List some of those statistics.
7. How was the small pox vaccination invented?
8. What are the three major functions of the immune system?
9. How do scientists and drug companies make vaccines in large quantities?
10. Why do RNA viruses evolve so rapidly?
11. What idea revolutionized vaccination and made vaccines much safer and more convenient?
12. What is the rotavirus? What does it cause?
13. What are the arguments for and against keeping two small pox samples preserved in laboratories?
14. What happens when a virus infects a human population with no natural immunity to that virus? Give an example
of a time and place where this occurred.
15. What is hantavirus? Where have outbreaks occurred?
16. What are some of the precautions that the Army medics take when handling a patient infected with a potentially
dangerous virus?
17. Will infectious diseases ever completely disappear from Earth?
18. In a few sentences, explain your reaction to the information in the video. You can write about the video in
general or a specific point that the video includes.