Integrated Middle School Curriculum Partnership for Environmental Education

Integrated Middle School Curriculum Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health (PEER; http: //peer. tamu. edu) Texas A&M University

Primary Authors: Jon Hunter Bill Klemm Deborah Kochevar Jim Kracht Based on a story by Marguerite Swilling Production of the Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health funded by NIEHS, Larry Johnson, PI

Mr. or Ms. Smith’s class Your Middle School

Investigator’s Challenge Quiz • Read “March Madness” carefully. • Take the Investigator’s Challenge Quiz to determine how carefully you read the story. • After you complete the quiz and see your score, review each question. • Find the part of the story that provides the correct answer to the question. • Underline or highlight the important details you find. MM-1. 0

What was Texas like in 1918? • Life in Texas in 1918 was becoming closer to the Texas we know today. • If you were to draw a picture of Texas in 1918, what would it look like? MM-2. 0

Spindletop • One of the important turning points in Texas history was the discovery of the Spindletop oil well in 1901. • Since before the 1800’s, oil had bubbled to the surface and gas flares were seen near Beaumont, Texas. • After many attempts to drill for oil in hal. lamar. edu/~psce/gc 4. html the area, a huge gush of oil sprayed 100 feet up into the air on January 10, 1901. • This was the first major oil well in Texas. • How do you think the discovery of Spindletop changed life in Texas? MM-3. 0

Oil Changes Texas • The oil from oil wells had to be refined and was used for: – Kerosene – Lubricants – Gasoline • Refineries became a large industry in Texas. Prior to the oil boom, most Texans lived on farms and ranches. Oil created new jobs. People moved to the cities to take jobs in new oil-related industries. • Ships soon transported oil and oil products from the ports around Beaumont and Houston. • With the use of gasoline to fuel them, automobiles and tractors soon became part of the everyday life for most Texans. MM-4. 0

Transportation • The first Ford Model T automobile was assembled in 1908. By 1914, the Model T had standard parts that could be put together quickly on an assembly line. • By 1918, mass production of the Ford Model T made it possible for Texans to own and travel by their own automobiles. • Most streets were still bumpy dirt roads. Flat www. mtfca. com/ tires were not unusual on short trips. MM-5. 0

Transportation • Mass transit and public transportation were used in the cities. • Electric street cars made it possible for people to live in suburbs outside the city and travel into the city to go to work. • Within the cities, most people walked from place to place. • Why would people want to live outside the city and use electric street cars to go back into the city for work? What would be the benefit of living outside the city? http: //www. transitworkers. novatone. net/index(n). htm MM-6. 0

Transportation • Trains were still very important for transportation in 1918. • Most people traveled between cities using the railroad system. Travel by train was reasonably comfortable with electric lights and dining cars, as well as sleeping cars. The circus, theater shows, and baseball teams all came to town on the train. • What are trains used for today? What type of transportation do people use today to travel from city to city? If you were to travel from Texas to California, what form of transportation would you use? MM-7. 0

Farming • The beginning of the 20 th century saw great new developments in agriculture. • New gasoline-powered tractors and farming machines made farming easier and more efficient. • More crops could be grown and harvested faster. • The price of food crops began to fall. • Why do you think the prices of food crops fell? MM-8. 0

Why did the prices of crops fall? Let’s use an example: • Situation 1: – You go to the store to buy an apple. The store only has one more apple left, but there is another customer who wants that apple too. How would you go about trying to get the last apple? • You might offer the store 10 cents extra to make sure you get the last apple. • Situation 2: – You go to the store to buy an apple and there are 10 apples. There is another customer who also wants an apple so he/she picks out an apple as well. There are plenty of apples for both of you. • In what situation would you be willing to pay more for the same apple? Why? MM-9. 0

Supply and Demand • You probably said you would pay more in Situation 1. • This concept is called Supply and Demand. – When the supply of apples is down (only 1 left) and the demand for apples is up (2 people want an apple), then the price of apples will go up. – When the supply of apples is up (10 apples) and the demand for apples is down (only 2 people want an apple), then the price of apples will go down. MM-10. 0

Why did the prices of crops fall? So, in the case of the food crops… • As new equipment could harvest crops faster, more and more food was being produced. The supply of crops went up. • At the same time, there was no increase in demand for the crops. • Therefore, the price of the crops went down. MM-11. 0

Moving to the Cities • With newer machinery in farming, fewer people were needed to work on farms. • People moved to cities to find new opportunities. Many people moved from rural areas to the cities. This movement is called urbanization. • Cities near ports, like Houston, were popular because of the opportunity to work in oil refineries and factories. MM-12. 0 home. sprynet. com/~lcseiler/ houarnd 5. htm

Life in the city • With the sudden flood of people to the cities, overcrowding caused a great deal of discomfort. • People produced so much trash and waste that cities became filthy and unsanitary. • There was not enough water or housing for the people in the cities. Many people had to live in temporary housing in the streets until they could find a better place to live. MM-13. 0

Immigration • Many other people were moving to Texas to take advantage of any job opportunities. People were coming to Texas from around the world: – Mexico – People settled in and around the San Antonio and Rio Grande area. – Germany – People became farmers in the Central Texas Hill Country. – Asia – People originally came to Texas to work on the railroads. – Others (Czechs, Irish, Italians) – People farmed in Central Texas. • Galveston was the main port for people to enter into Texas. MM-14. 0

Conveniences • Many of our daily conveniences were new in 1918: – Telephones were becoming popular in many homes. – Most homes in cities had electricity for lighting, but no air conditioning. – Many cities were just getting electric street lighting. Source: http: //www. atcaonline. com/phone/photos. html MM-15. 0 • What conveniences would you miss if you lived in 1918?

What did people do for fun? • With the invention of so many new industrial advances and machinery, people had more time to have fun. • People in 1918 enjoyed: – Horse racing – Baseball – Football – The circus – Theater and silent movies. MM-16. 0

Compare and Contrast • What similarities are there between Texas in 1918 and Texas today? • What differences are there between Texas in 1918 and Texas today? • How would your life be different if you lived in Texas in 1918? MM-17. 0

Texas and World War I In the March Madness story, Arlis had just returned home from WWI. How do you think the war might have affected the lives of Texans? Click here to find out! MM-18. 0

There is an epidemic in the story. We will investigate: • • • MM-19. 0 The symptoms. How it started. How it was spread. How it was treated. Why it was so unique in history.

Was this just a bad cold? Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine What symptoms did both Arlis and Johnny have? Can you think of a disease we have today that causes these symptoms? MM-20. 0

The Death of Annie’s Fiancé Bad colds usually don’t kill people, so why did he die? Private Schmidt had the “Fort Riley Fever. ” It made him delirious in combat and caused him to risk his life unnecessarily. MM-21. 0

When people die with cold-like symptoms, it could be the flu. This sickness was the notorious 1918 influenza epidemic! MM-22. 0

What are the problems for us to solve? 1. Why did this epidemic occur and why was it so severe? 2. What is the best way to treat the flu to prevent death? 3. Could an outbreak like the one in the story occur today? If so, how can we prevent it? MM-23. 0

What were the symptoms? Which of the symptoms do NOT occur with the common cold? Flu causes fever MM-24. 0

How did it start? • The first cases occurred in early spring at Fort Riley, Kansas. • Tons of pig manure were burned near the Fort. Smoke from the fire created a huge cloud that lasted for days. • Two days later, soldiers at Fort Riley reported sick. By noon, there were over 100 cases. • Most early cases were among U. S. troops who were sent to Europe to fight in World War I spread it to troops in Europe. MM-25. 0

How bad was the epidemic? • More Americans died from influenza in 1918 (675, 000) than died in all U. S. wars (650, 858). • There were not enough caskets to bury the dead. Many were buried in mass graves. • Public places were closed. • Hospital tents were set up in parks and playgrounds. MM-26. 0

Spreading the Flu • What behavior or conditions in the story was thought to spread the flu? • What other ways do we know flu can be spread? MM-27. 0

How did the epidemic spread? • Food? • Water? • Air? • Skin Contact? Why or why not? MM-28. 0

The Outbreak Followed the Railway • What does this tell us about the cause of the spread to so many areas and people? • What does this tell us about how a new epidemic might be spread today? MM-29. 0

Wearing face masks did not prevent the spread. Why? The Flu virus is most likely to infect when it gains access to the respiratory tract. Masks should have worked. MM-30. 0 Source: Australian War Memorial

A Worldwide Epidemic • Some 30 -40 MILLION people died worldwide. Of these, 675, 000 died in U. S. Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine. Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas MM-31. 0 • Half of those who died were young, healthy people.

How did U. S. public health officials react? • Royal Copeland, Health Commissioner of New York City, announced, “The city is in no danger of an epidemic. No need for our people to worry. ” Why did he say this? • Some officials thought the Germans were using germ warfare via gas bombs on the battlefields. • Other health officials wanted to shut down public gatherings. Did they succeed? MM-32. 0

Travel and public gatherings could not be shut down. Why? Source: United States Navy MM-33. 0 Source: State Library of Victoria

Why did the outbreak occur when it did, and why did it spread so much? When it comes to our knowledge about influenza, we have only explored the tip of the iceberg. MM-34. 0

So many people died that there was a shortage of caskets. Could all the unburied corpses have contributed to the spread of the disease? Why or why not? MM-35. 0

What does the timeline tell us about why this epidemic ended? • September: 12, 000 died. • October: 195, 000 died. • November: epidemic ending. Source: PBS Why did it end so quickly? MM-36. 0

How did doctors know that this epidemic was the flu? • At first, they did not suspect the flu. The cause was misdiagnosed. • Cultures of swabs revealed a bacterium (Hemophilus), which they thought was the main cause. MM-37. 0 Health care workers fighting the 1918 -1918 outbreak

How did they figure out a virus caused the epidemic? • Workers at a dog distemper research center in England were getting the flu. • Ferrets were used as a test animal to make dog distemper vaccine. Researchers guessed that ferrets could test if the flu were caused by a virus. • Extracts of nasal swabs from people with the flu (processed to contain only virus), when injected into ferrets, caused ferrets to get the flu. MM-38. 0

How did this outbreak of flu differ from the kinds of flu we have today? • How were symptoms different? • What age groups were most susceptible? • How did severity differ? MM-39. 0

People say that a flu virus must have mutated. • But this virus does not have to mutate to become drastically different. • Flu virus occurs as 8 segments. These separate when a host cell is penetrated. • If more than one virus penetrates a cell, their segments can be shuffled, and whole new strains appear instantly. How does this relate to the fact that people have to have a flu shot every year? MM-40. 0

What were some treatments mentioned in the story? • Did those treatments make sense? • Did those treatments work? MM-41. 0 Preventive treatment: spraying sore throat. Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine.

Were treatments appropriate? “Influenza Avenue” Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine MM-42. 0 • Bed rest and drinking lots of liquids. • Camphor bags hung around the neck. • Eating sugar that had turpentine or kerosene drops added.

Hundreds of vaccines were developed. None worked. Why? • The early vaccines were developed against the secondary bacterial infections that were associated with flu. But bacteria were not the main problem. • By the time they started making a virus vaccine, the epidemic was ending on its own. MM-43. 0

How do we treat the flu today? • Vaccination • Enforced rest, lots of fluids • Anti-viral drugs Today we vaccinate the elderly. Why? What age group was most affected in the 1918 epidemic? MM-44. 0

This epidemic seemed to get lost in history. • It was a major world-wide epidemic. • 550, 000 U. S. citizens died in just 10 months. • 30 - 40 million people elsewhere in the world died. MM-45. 0

Could such an epidemic happen again? Why or why not? MM-46. 0 Click here for more on Influenza.

Surf’s up, dude! • While K. T. is scouring the beach for treasures, she notices that, despite the unfavorable weather conditions, there is a die-hard surfer still out riding the waves. This particular surfer likes to exclaim “SWEET!!!” whenever he is surfing faster than 25 mph. If a wave crashes on the beach every 20 seconds and the waves’ crests are 300 meters apart, is he going fast enough to reach “sweetness? ” (1 m = 3. 28 ft, 1 mi = 5280 ft) MM-47. 0

Keep your cookies! • While standing on top of a sand dune, Connie decides that # of Rolls it would be cool to do some 3 somersaults all the way down the hill. The chart to the right 6 shows the effects that the somersaults will have on 9 Connie’s body. • When tucked into a ball, 12 Connie’s body has a radius of. 55 m. 15 • It is 55 m to the bottom of the hill. • Will Connie lose her lunch? MM-48. 0 Effects Woozy Dizzy Nauseated Where’s the trash can? Hey! I don’t remember eating that! Click here for more information on circumference.

Measure the Size of Potential Treasure • K. T. ’s metal detector can sense objects in a field that are within a 60° degree arc from the center of the detector. The region of detection is in the shape of a cone (as illustrated). If the detector can sense objects buried as much as a meter deep, how large is the deepest circle of detection? MM-49. 0 Click here for help with geometric shapes.

Hark! A shark! • When Connie and K. T. appear in 1918, they are standing 10 m offshore. Not too far from the girls (80 m straight offshore), is a great white shark who has a nagging rumble in his tummy. In order for the shark to make a meal of the girls he must use his keen sense of smell to sniff them out. Once he knows where they are, all he must do is swim and munch. If the girls’ scent travels at. 3 m/sec and the shark can swim at 10 m/sec, will the girls be eaten if they don’t move from their present position for exactly four minutes? MM-50. 0 Click here for more information on time measurement.

Arlis Does His Best Imitation of a Rock When Arlis fell off the pier, he hit the water and sank immediately to the bottom of the ocean. If he hit the water 15 m away from the girls and sank 10 m, how far would K. T. have to swim if she wanted to save him and pull him to the surface of the water. Assume that K. T. swims straight to Arlis and then pulls him straight up. ? 10 m MM-51. 0 15 m 10 m

Catch Me If You Can • Although the Ford Model T was a huge technical advancement for its time, it is a far cry from the vehicles produced today. The Model T’s top speed was around 45 mph, while the fastest cars today top out around 200 mph. How much faster than the Model T are the fastest cars of today (percentage)? MM-52. 0 Click here for help with percentages.

Race of the Century • Imagine that the Ford Model T and one of today’s fastest cars race on a track that is 1. 3 miles long. • If the cars start the race at their top speed and race for one and a half hours, approximately how many more laps will the faster car travel? MM-53. 0 Please insert a picture of a Ford Model T here.

Spindletop + Parachute = Fun! • Oil derricks in 1918 stood about 16 m tall and launched oil about 60 m from their tops. Let’s pretend that someone is crazy enough to put on a parachute and stand on top of a derrick just before it blows. If the derrick launches the person as high as it shoots the oil with a velocity of 50 m/s and the person pulls their rip cord exactly at the peak of travel, how long will they be in the air if they float back to earth at a speed of 5 m/s? (Ignore acceleration) MM-54. 0 60 m 16 m

Black Gold • Oil flows from a spindletop at about 80, 000 barrels per day. Assume oil sells today for $33 per barrel and it costs $7 per barrel to refine oil. How much profit can be earned in one year? kids. rrc. state. tx. us/school/ library/rrc/oil. html MM-55. 0

Cylinder? Cube? You Make the Call • In 1918, cities like Houston were so crowded that some people had to build “make-do” houses in the streets. • Pretend that you are assigned to build a “make-do” house. You are given two pieces of scrap sheet metal, each measuring 3 m wide and 6 m long, and are told that you can build either a cube or a cylinder. Disregarding the materials needed for a roof and using the ground as your floor, which structure would provide the largest living space? MM-56. 0 Click here for help with geometric shapes. 3 m 3 m

Sick and Tired of Being Sick 675, 000 U. S. residents were believed to have died from influenza during the epidemic of 1918. The U. S. population at the time was 103 million. What percentage of the 1918 U. S. population died from influenza? Click here for help with percentages. www. sacbee. com/. . . /century_special/ flu. html MM-57. 0

A Sick Situation • Assuming that 0. 66% of 103 million people in the United States died of influenza and the mortality rate of the illness is 10%. How many people in the United States were infected? (Mortality rate = the number of people who died divided by the number of people infected) Click here for help with percentages. MM-58. 0 Click here for help with ratios.

For more fun-filled math questions, click here! MM-59. 0

Unlocking Language • Build your language skills by carefully reading March Madness. • Practice these skills by completing the Unlocking Language activities. MM-60. 0

Vocabulary Challenge • What do you see in this picture? • Use context clues to help you learn new vocabulary. • Take the Vocabulary Challenge quiz to test your skill at finding word meanings. MM-61. 0

Who do you believe? • Re-read the conversation between Annie and Arlis (page 8 line 21 – page 11 line 21) that K. T. and Connie overheard at the East Pier. • Imagine that you overheard this conversation and are trying to decide who to believe, Annie or Arlis. MM-62. 0

The East Pier Conversation: Fact versus Opinion • Identify at least 2 statements from the conversation that qualify as factual. • Identify at least 2 statements from the conversation that represent the opinion of the speaker. MM-63. 0

Fact or Opinion? Fact: Opinion: • Can you find out if the statement is true? • What evidence do you have to support the statement? • Is the source of the information credible? • Is the statement based on feelings? • Is it a statement with which someone could disagree? • Is the source of the information biased? MM-64. 0

You Decide • Do you believe that Arlis or Annie is telling the truth about Johnny? Was he a coward or a hero? • Provide at least three good reasons to support your contention. MM-65. 0

Drawing Conclusions • Read the passage to the right. • What can you infer about Arlis’s fate after reading this passage? • What information supports your inference? MM-66. 0 He stepped to the end of the pier and looked over the water. “I’m leaving, do you hear me? I won’t go back, ” he moaned, clutching the shawl. He reared back to throw the shawl into the sea and slipped on the slimy boards, bumping his head as he fell into the dark swirling waters at the end of the pier.

New Evidence • By the end of the story, do you draw a different conclusion about Arlis’s fate? • What evidence makes you change your mind? MM-67. 0

Symbolic Treasures • Re-read the passage to the right. • Which object symbolizes Miss Annie’s happiest moment? Why? • Which object symbolizes her proudest moment? Why? MM-68. 0 She (Miss Annie) drew a breath and seemed to focus somewhere high on the wall near the ceiling, seeing things from long ago. “These two things, the ring and the medal, represent my happiest and my proudest moments. ”

Symbolic Treasures • Recall some object or thing that symbolizes your happiest or your proudest moment. • Write a one page essay that introduces the reader to the object and explains why the object is symbolic for you. MM-69. 0

Teachers, please click on this link to complete a short survey concerning this module: http: //peer. tamu. edu/forms/Curricula_Survey. shtml. This product is available through the cooperation of the following: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Partnership for Environmental Education and Rural Health College of Education, Texas A&M University Department of Agricultural Education, Texas A&M University The Center for Environmental and Rural Health College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University

List of Slide Numbers that Correspond to the Different Subject Areas Science Slides MM 19. 0 -46. 0 Social Studies Slides MM 2. 0 -18. 0, 45. 0 English Slides MM 1. 0, 60. 0 -69. 0 Math Slides MM 47. 0 -59. 0