Discuss how diseases have impacted human history. Divide your class into groups and assign each group one of the following: tuberculosis, malaria, plague, cholera, smallpox, and AIDS. They read up on, complete a concept map, and present to the rest of the class their assigned disease. Afterward, they create artwork and write a paragraph about it. This could be used in a life science class when studying microbiology as a way to demonstrate how it impacts society and as a way to incorporate history, writing, and art into your curriculum. 

Concepts

communicable disease, infections

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Additional Tags

infectious disease, science

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Pros

• Richly detailed lesson plan
• A video and supportive projection slides available 
• Interdisciplinary approach
• Part of an exciting unit on microbes by Baylor College of Medicine

Cons

• Middle schoolers may not have great interest in this topic or in this research assignment; it is, however, an integral part of a unit on microorganisms

Common Core

RST.6-8.1 RST.6-8.2 RST.6-8.10