Demonstrating An Epidemic
Demonstrating An Epidemic
Description:
Epidemiology is the study of disease origin and transmission.This experiment allows students to experience a small scale "epidemic," demonstrating the ease with which disease organisms are spread, and enables the student to determine the originator of the "epidemic." Students will transfer live bacteria by hand contact, then transfer an inoculum to a nutrient agar plate for 24 hour incubation. After incubation, plates are observed for growth of the microbial agent. By arranging the plates in the order of hand contact, it can be determined what individual received the original contaminant and started the "epidemic," which individuals transferred the organism yet did not grow it out (carriers), and how dosage, or amount of contamination, affects getting a disease. It must be pointed out that in an actual epidemic a contaminated individual could feasibly contact many others and not just one as demonstrated in this procedure and that the organism will multiply in each host before being passed on. Other means of microbial transmission (air, water, body fluids, fomites) may also be discussed. (Fomites are inanimate objects such as combs, pencils, etc. which may carry microbes on the surface.)
Education Levels:
9, 10, 11, 12
Subject:
Disease, Biology, Pharmacology
Resource Type:
Activity, Lesson plan
Medium:
Text/HTML
Fee Status:
Free
Beneficiary:
Students
Online provider:
Access Excellence
- Login or register to post comments
- Report broken link
Comments