In this first activity students are challenged to identify the origins of different diseases. Two alternatives of the activity are provided. In the first (1A) students sort the diseases into two categories – infectious and noninfectious.

In this activity students consider the differences between infectious and noninfectious diseases and identify characteristics of infectious diseases. The second alternative (1B) provides a more nuanced and complex analysis. Students are asked to sort the diseases as infectious, inherited, or environmental.

The purpose of this activity is to determine students’ prior understandings about the origins of certain diseases and to have them begin to consider what makes a disease “infectious”. Activity 1B is also designed to have students recognize that the origins of some diseases can be classified in more than one category.

For example, breast cancer can be the result of inheritance (BRCA 1 and 2 genes) or may be caused by environmental factors. Cervical cancer can be the result of infection by human papilloma virus or environmental factors. Both activities can be carried out by individuals, by teams or as a whole class activity.

Teacher Instruction for Activity 1A – Infectious or Noninfectious?

As a team activity

1. Divide your class into groups of three or four.
2. Provide each group with one copy of Randomized List of Diseases
3. Have the students cut the list into individual diseases.
4. Have students sort the various diseases into two groups—infectious diseases and noninfectious diseases. As they sort they should discuss why they placed a disease in one category or another. Suggest that they record their reasoning for each disease in preparation for class discussion
5. When students have completed sorting, gather the class together to share their decisions about the category of each disease and the reasoning for identifying a disease as infectious or noninfectious.
6. You may want to write the names of the eighteen diseases on the board and record an "I" or "N" next to each disease as groups voice their decisions. If disagreement exists, i.e. if some groups decided a disease is noninfectious while others classified it as infectious, record the letters next to the disease. And discuss the reasoning behind the decisions.
7. Examples of student responses include "measles can be spread when someone coughs and another person breathes in the saliva droplets in the air, so it’s infectious" and "Down syndrome is caused by an abnormality in one of the chromosome’s and cannot be passed from person to person, so it’s noninfectious."

As a class activity

1. Write the names of the eighteen diseases on the board in the randomized order.
2. As a class discussion have students decide whether a disease is infectious or noninfectious.
3. Alternatively, have students to copy down the list of diseases in their notebooks and assign each disease one of the two letters representing the three categories. Students can share their decision by a show of hands.
4. Record an "I" or "N" next to each disease until all the diseases are sorted. If disagreement exists, i.e. if some students think a disease is noninfectious while others classify it as infectious, record the appropriate letters next to the disease.
5. Have students share their reasoning for identifying a disease as infectious or noninfectious. Examples of student responses include "measles can be spread when someone coughs and another person breathes in the saliva droplets in the air, so it’s infectious" and "Down syndrome is caused by an abnormality in one of the chromosome’s and cannot be passed from person to person, so it’s noninfectious."

Teacher Instructions for Activity 1B – Infectious, Inherited or Environmental?

As a team activity

1. Divide your class into groups of three or four.
2. Provide each group with one copy of Randomized List of Diseases
3. Have the students cut the list into individual diseases.
4. Have students sort the various diseases into three groups—infectious diseases, inherited diseases, and environmental diseases. As they sort they should discuss why they placed a disease in one category or another. Suggest that they record their reasoning for each disease in preparation for class discussion
5. When students have completed sorting, gather the class together to share their decisions about the category of each disease and the reasoning for identifying a disease as infectious, inherited, or environmental.
6. You may want to write the names of the eighteen diseases on the board and record an “Inf,” “Inh,” or “E” next to each disease as groups voice their decisions. If disagreement exists, i.e. if some groups decided a disease is inherited while others classified it as infectious, record the appropriate letters next to the disease.
7. Examples of student responses include “measles can be spread when someone coughs and another person breathes in the saliva droplets in the air, so it’s infectious” and “Down syndrome is caused by an abnormality in one of the chromosome’s and cannot be passed from person to person, so it’s inherited.” They may also recognize that certain diseases could fall into more than one category.

As a class activity

1. Write the names of the eighteen diseases on the board in the randomized order.
2. As a class discussion have students decide whether a disease is infectious, inherited, or environmental.
3. Alternatively, have students to copy down the list of diseases in their notebooks and assign each disease one of the three letters representing the three categories. Students can share their decision by a show of hands.
4. Record an “Inf”, Inh”,” or “E” next to each disease until all the diseases are sorted. If disagreement exists, i.e. if some students think a disease is inherited while others classify it as infectious, record the appropriate letters next to the disease.
5. Have students share their reasoning for identifying a disease as infectious, inherited, or environmental. Examples of student responses include “measles can be spread when someone coughs and another person breathes in the saliva droplets in the air, so it’s infectious” and “Down syndrome is caused by an abnormality in one of the chromosome’s and cannot be passed from person to person, so it’s inherited.” They may also recognize that certain diseases could fall into more than one category

Randomized list of diseases for students:

• AIDS
• Alzheimer’s Disease
• Anorexia
• Asthma
• Breast Cancer
• Cervical Cancer
• Down Syndrome
• Ebola
• Haemophilia
• Influenza
• Malaria
• Lung Cancer
• Measles
• Scurvy
• Sickle-Cell Disease
• Skin Cancer
• Tuberculosis
• Miners’ Black Lung Disease (Pneumoconiosis)

Answer Key Table

(?) indicates that the actual environmental factors that may be involved in the disease are not completely understood.