Name: ____________________________________ Date: ________________________
Student Exploration: Disease Spread
Vocabulary: disease, epidemic, infect, infectious disease, pathogen
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Why do you think it is important to cover your mouth when you cough?
You cover your mouth when you cough to prevent spread of disease to others.
2. Why should you always wash your hands before you eat? You wash
your hands to prevent germs on your hands from entering your body and making you sick.
Gizmo Warm-up
When a person has a disease, his or her normal body
functions are disrupted. Some diseases, such as diabetes
and most cancers, are not spread from one person to
another. But other diseases, such as the flu and strep
throat, can be spread. These diseases are known as
infectious diseases. Infectious diseases are caused by
viruses, bacteria, and other agents known as pathogens.
In the Disease Spread Gizmo™, you will be able to
observe how various pathogens can spread through a
group of people. Click Play ( ) and observe.
1. Describe what happened on the SIMULATION pane: The simulation pane shows a
people in a social gathering and spreading a disease through the community.
2. Look at the color key on the bottom right of the Gizmo. What is happening when a
person changes color? A person changing color means they are now infected and shows
how they were infected.
Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A: Click Reset ( ).
Person-to-person On the CONTROLS tab under Active Diseases,
transmission turn off Foodborne and turn on Person to person.
Set the Number of people to 5.
Question: What factors affect how quickly a pathogen spreads from person to person?
The factors that decide how quickly a pathogen spreads are the temperature, number of people
in the room and other things like that affect how fast it spreads.
This study source was downloaded by 100000808701186 from CourseHero.com on 04-14-2022 19:14:05 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/30036119/Gizmo-Student-Disease-Spread-Packet/
, 1. Predict: Some pathogens are spread directly from one person to another. This can happen
when people come into direct contact or share items, such as drinking glasses. What do you
think might affect how quickly a pathogen is spread from person to person?
The amount of physical contact in the room may influence how quickly the pathogen is
spread from person to person.
2. Identify: Select the SIMULATION tab on the left and the TABLE tab on the right. (You will
want the table tab open to answer question C.)
A. What does the purple person represent? The purple person is representing the
person infected by the pathogen.
B. Click Play, and observe the simulation for a while. What must happen for the disease
to spread from one person to another? People must make physical contact for the
disease to spread.
C. How long did it take to infect five people? 73.5 hours is how long it took for the
disease to infect five people.
3. Experiment: Click Reset. Change the Number of people to 15. Click Play, and record how
long it takes to infect five people. Then repeat the experiment when there are 25 people and
35 people in the room.
Number of people in room Time required to infect five people (hr)
15 31.6 hours
25 27.6 hours
35 21.6 hours
4. Interpret: Study the data you collected. What trend do you see in the data, and how
would you explain it? The more people the faster the disease is spread. If there is more
people there is more contact so the disease is spread faster.
(Activity A continued on next page)
This study source was downloaded by 100000808701186 from CourseHero.com on 04-14-2022 19:14:05 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/30036119/Gizmo-Student-Disease-Spread-Packet/
Student Exploration: Disease Spread
Vocabulary: disease, epidemic, infect, infectious disease, pathogen
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Why do you think it is important to cover your mouth when you cough?
You cover your mouth when you cough to prevent spread of disease to others.
2. Why should you always wash your hands before you eat? You wash
your hands to prevent germs on your hands from entering your body and making you sick.
Gizmo Warm-up
When a person has a disease, his or her normal body
functions are disrupted. Some diseases, such as diabetes
and most cancers, are not spread from one person to
another. But other diseases, such as the flu and strep
throat, can be spread. These diseases are known as
infectious diseases. Infectious diseases are caused by
viruses, bacteria, and other agents known as pathogens.
In the Disease Spread Gizmo™, you will be able to
observe how various pathogens can spread through a
group of people. Click Play ( ) and observe.
1. Describe what happened on the SIMULATION pane: The simulation pane shows a
people in a social gathering and spreading a disease through the community.
2. Look at the color key on the bottom right of the Gizmo. What is happening when a
person changes color? A person changing color means they are now infected and shows
how they were infected.
Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A: Click Reset ( ).
Person-to-person On the CONTROLS tab under Active Diseases,
transmission turn off Foodborne and turn on Person to person.
Set the Number of people to 5.
Question: What factors affect how quickly a pathogen spreads from person to person?
The factors that decide how quickly a pathogen spreads are the temperature, number of people
in the room and other things like that affect how fast it spreads.
This study source was downloaded by 100000808701186 from CourseHero.com on 04-14-2022 19:14:05 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/30036119/Gizmo-Student-Disease-Spread-Packet/
, 1. Predict: Some pathogens are spread directly from one person to another. This can happen
when people come into direct contact or share items, such as drinking glasses. What do you
think might affect how quickly a pathogen is spread from person to person?
The amount of physical contact in the room may influence how quickly the pathogen is
spread from person to person.
2. Identify: Select the SIMULATION tab on the left and the TABLE tab on the right. (You will
want the table tab open to answer question C.)
A. What does the purple person represent? The purple person is representing the
person infected by the pathogen.
B. Click Play, and observe the simulation for a while. What must happen for the disease
to spread from one person to another? People must make physical contact for the
disease to spread.
C. How long did it take to infect five people? 73.5 hours is how long it took for the
disease to infect five people.
3. Experiment: Click Reset. Change the Number of people to 15. Click Play, and record how
long it takes to infect five people. Then repeat the experiment when there are 25 people and
35 people in the room.
Number of people in room Time required to infect five people (hr)
15 31.6 hours
25 27.6 hours
35 21.6 hours
4. Interpret: Study the data you collected. What trend do you see in the data, and how
would you explain it? The more people the faster the disease is spread. If there is more
people there is more contact so the disease is spread faster.
(Activity A continued on next page)
This study source was downloaded by 100000808701186 from CourseHero.com on 04-14-2022 19:14:05 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/30036119/Gizmo-Student-Disease-Spread-Packet/
