Diseases throughout human history

Students will trace the historical impact of disease on humankind and research key events in the history of disease.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Science

By Greg Mitchell

Provided by Kenan Fellows Program

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• Learn more about AIDS, Bubonic Plague, HIV, Spanish Flu, biology, diseases, science, smallpox, and world history.

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Summary of activities

Given a list diseases and historical events, students will research the disease and create a timeline showing when the disease occurred.

Learning outcomes

This assignment is intended to:

• Give students an understanding of the prevalence of disease over the course of human history
• Enable students to work on research skills
• Allow students to connect their knowledge of world history with their knowledge of biology

Teacher planning

Time required for the lesson

This assignment could be used for homework or an in-class assignment, especially at beginning of a unit on viruses. It should take students less than one hour to complete.

Materials/Resources

• Student handout: Diseases throughout human history timeline activity
• Students will need access to the Internet

Activities

1. Give students the Diseases throughout human history timeline activity handout. This handout includes the instructions and a list of events and diseases in no particular order.
2. Students will access the internet to find the information needed to answer the questions regarding the diseases and their time in history. Bonus questions are given underneath the event name and year.
3. The students should plot those dates and write the answer to the bonus questions on the timeline handout. (One example is provided on the timeline)

Assessment

Assessment is made from a student’s completed timeline with correct answers. Below are the dates and answers to the bonus questions.

1. First known case of HIV in the world (1959)
2. First known case of AIDS in the U.S. (1981)
   • Bonus info: How was HIV transmitted to the United States? (by travelers who came to the U.S. on planes)
3. Hernando Cortez arrives in Mexico (1518)
   • Bonus info: How many Mexican natives were killed by smallpox and other diseases in the 16th Century? (approx. 20 million)
4. Earliest known case of smallpox in the world (10,000BC, 1157BC)
5. Smallpox vaccine invented (1796)
   • Bonus info: How was this vaccine first made? (from cowpox infection)
6. Last known case of smallpox in the world (1977)
7. Spanish flu epidemic (1918-1919)
   • Bonus info: How many people around the world died of this epidemic? (20 million-40 million)
   • Bonus info: World War I occurred during the same time. How many people died in World War I? (20 million)
8. Peak years of the Bubonic Plague/Black death (1347-1352)
   • Bonus info: How was this disease transmitted? How many people died of the Bubonic Plague? (25 million)
9. AZT approved by FDA for use [also known as azidothymidine, Zidovudine, Retrovir, Retrovis] (1987)
   Bonus info: What does AZT do? (anti retroviral drug—inhibits reverse transcriptase)