What Killed Tweety? An ecological exploration of West Nile Virus

Christine Salokar
Dunwoody Academy High School
Minneapolis, MN

Summary

Students will explore the effects of the West Nile Virus (WNV) through North America, especially in Minnesota. Students will learn about the West Nile Virus, commonly affected birds, the travel of the virus, and the interrelationship of WNV, birds, and humans.

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Learning Goals

Students will read maps, figures, and tables to analyze data.

Students will read scientific articles to understand the relationship of the WNV, birds, and humans then form comparisons and opinions based on the articles.

Students will navigate web sites to access information about WNV, affected birds, maps, and human data.

Higher Order thinking skills: Recognize the movement of WNV across North America
Classify organisms involved in the spread of WNV
Locate and report key data in affected organisms
Interpret key data from scientific maps and articles
Write scientifically based opinions and summaries
Examine factors involved in WNV spread
Examine effects of affected bird populations
Assess the extent of damage caused by WNV
Predict future effects of WNV

Skills: Read maps, tables, graphs, and figures.
Observe trends and cause/effect patterns.
Write scientific summaries and opinions.
Analyze interrelationships between biotic factors (WNV, birds, humans) and abiotic factors (standing water)
Use computer and internet skills to find, observe, read, analyze, etc related data.

Key Concepts: Biotic and abiotic factors can affect disease distribution.
Communities show positive and negative interrelationships.
Obvious relationships do not always show the expected scientific data.

2-5 Vocab words: abiotic, biotic, corvid, avian, vector

Context for Use

Description and Teaching Materials

Context: This activity was developed for 10th grade Biology Students but could readily be modified for 7th Grade Life Science or any grade Environmental Science Students. Class size is dependent on availability of computers or laptops for internet access. My class size ranges from 12-20 students automatically. This activity should take one to two periods for the actual internet exploration. This lesson would be in the Ecology unit. Students should also be able to read tables, figures, and maps in context. I would use this to stimulate personal action plans related to ecological involvement in community. I set this up specifically to explore WNV but you can look at several other diseases, too. Detailed guide to What Killed Tweety? (Microsoft Word 61kB Aug25 09)

Teaching Notes and Tips

I would have students do the internet research and analysis, write and share their action plans, then go into the community to analyze our local potential to be affected. I plan to have students work in pairs. Since we have to open websites prior to student use, I am concerned that the site would not be ready for our use. Other teachers would need to check to make sure the site is still operational. I have done similar activities and plan to provide clear, step by step directions but there may be some confusion if links or buttons change over time.

Assessment

Assessment will be two fold. Students will present their findings and action plans to small groups. As a large group, we will look at the community around our school and students will present their analysis and solutions directly. Students will apply the skills from this lesson to similar lessons to show retention of applied skills and knowledge.

Standards

Life Science Standard applied: Sub-strand C. Interdependence of Life
The student will describe how the environment and interactions between organisms can affect the number of species and the diversity of species in an ecosystem.
9-12.IV.C.4 The student will predict and analyze how a change in an ecosystem, resulting from natural causes, changes in climate, human activity or introduction of invasive species, can affect both the number of organisms in a population and the biodiversity of species in the ecosystem. Content Limit: Scenarios will use examples of Minnesota ecosystems when appropriate. Items may require students to predict, analyze and reflect on global issues.

References and Resources