Learning to Give, Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement

generationOn

Home / Teachers / Be the Change: Global Health / Malaria

Malaria

Lesson 3:

From Unit Be the Change: Global Health

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

9th-12th Grade

Subjects:

Health and PE, Language Arts, Philanthropy, Science and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Communication; Interview; Personal Response
PHIL:	Poverty; Service; Social Action
SCI:	Health; Malaria
SOC:	Be the Change; Civic Responsibility/Virtue; Global Issues

Purpose:

Students learn facts about the global threat of malaria and methods for fighting its spread. Students learn one way they can take action against malaria through fundraising to purchase insecticide-treated bed nets.

Duration:

One 50-Minute Class Period, plus time to carry out a service-learning project

Objectives:

The learner will:

explain the urgency of addressing the issue of malaria in Africa.
identify the causes, effects, prevention, and cure of malaria.
take action to address the issue of malaria through fundraising.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.
Learn more about the stages of service-learning.

Students participate in the Sweat for Nets program. Students "get active" in the fight against malaria. Ask the school to dedicate one athletic event (or more) to fighting malaria. The school or organization can donate all ticket proceeds to Sweat for Nets, and the students can inform and educate the audience about the need.

Students design a malaria awareness presentation, slideshow, or public service announcement to present at a special Sweat for Nets-sponsored athletic event, such as a tennis match or a basketball, soccer, hockey, baseball or lacrosse game.
Use the pre-game period or halftime break as an opportunity to talk to the audience about malaria and to present information about the issue to everyone in attendance. If the school or organization is donating the ticket proceeds to Sweat for Nets, let the audience know where the money is going and what it is being used for.

Vocabulary:

malaria: an infectious disease characterized by cycles of chills, fever, and sweating, transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito
insecticide-treated bed net: a netting that encompasses a bed and protects the sleeper against infected mosquitoes

Materials:

student copies of Handout1: Fast Facts
student copies of Handout 2: Malaria
student copies of Handout 3: Interview Questions
student copies of Handout 4: What Does it Feel Like to Get Malaria?
internet access

Handout 1: Malaria Fast Facts
Handout 2: Malaria
Handout 3: Malaria Interview
Handout 4: What Does it Feel Like to Get Malaria?

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:

Distribute Malaria Fast Facts" Handout 1. Ask students to read, mark the statements as True or False, and discuss the answers in small groups. Ask: "Was any of this information new or surprising to you?"

Begin the lesson by asking all students to read the interview and story on Malaria in the handouts regarding the impact of malaria on people and communities. Discuss these stories with the students. Review by asking basic questions such as: What is malaria? How is it spread? How do people in sub-Saharan Africa prevent malaria? What treatments are available?

Focus on the question; how does malaria affect Ghana? Have students discuss the interviewees answer to this question regarding the overall effect of malaria on her country. How is this different than in the U.S.? What methods of medical treatment do we have here that differ from Ghana? Why do some groups receive adequate health care and others do not?
View a map of Africa and locate Ghana. Discuss the spread of malaria in Ghana. Find current information about malaria on the World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/malaria/en/. See statistics about Ghana here: http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_gha_en.pdf
Discuss ways that the students can organize the whole school around doing something to help people in Ghana prevent malaria.

Read about Sweat for Nets program through which the school organizes an athletic event with a fundraising and educational goal around malaria. Read more about it at http://www.generationon.org/teachers/resources/sweat-for-nets. Access the forms at http://www.generationon.org/orgs/sweat-for-nets-forms-and-templates. Organize a school or community-wide Sweat for Nets walk, run, or bike-a-thon and collect pledges for every mile participants go and for the amount of time participants spend doing the activity.
Create a special Sweat for Nets sports tournament or contest. Invite classmates and young people from the community to participate in a free throw contest, a three-on- three tournament, a bowling tournament, or table tennis tournament.
Set up a special student/faculty sports game challenge that designed to raise money for insecticide-treated bed nets.
Create your own fundraising project that will raise funds for insecticide-treated bed nets, such as a neighborhood cleanup campaign or poetry jam.

Assessment:

Have students form groups of three or four. Within these groups, ask students to pretend they have been hired by the government of a country with a high incidence of malaria, such as Ghana. The government has asked the group to prepare a report that explains how they can reduce the incidence of malaria in the country. Each group should prepare an oral and visual presentation (e.g., posters and charts) that discusses its recommendations, taking information from the websites they have visited.

Cross-Curriculum Extensions:

Research: Students research malaria and the treatment and prevention methods.

Debate: Students debate whether poverty causes malaria or malaria causes poverty. Students debate the best methods to stop the spread of malaria.

Reflection: (click to view)

Bibliographical References:

World Health Organization website: http://www.who.int/malaria/en/. See statistics about Ghana here: http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/country-profiles/profile_gha_en.pdf

GenerationOn. "Sweat for Nets" http://www.generationon.org/teachers/resources/sweat-for-nets. Access the forms at http://www.generationon.org/orgs/sweat-for-nets-forms-and-templates.

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

Malaria Fast Facts

Write True or False after each statement.

Malaria is spread by the male Anopheles mosquito.
Most cases of malaria occur in children under the age of 5.
Malaria is predominantly found in desert regions of the world.
The first signs of malaria are usually fever, aching and headache.
Pregnant women have a higher risk of contracting malaria,which can,in turn, decrease the chance of a baby’s survival.
Insecticide-treated bednets increase the risk of contracting malaria.
Betsy Ross, a British officer in the Indian Medical Service, was the first person to demonstrate that mosquitoes transmit disease from one human being to another.
The average cost for potentially life-saving treatments of malaria cost over $100.
Four Nobel prizes have been awarded for work associated with malaria.
Malaria can still be found in the United States today.

Answers

False Malaria is spread by the female Anopheles mosquito.
True Most cases of malaria occur in children under the age of 5.
False Malaria is predominantly found in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
True The first signs of malaria are usually fever, aching and headache.
True Pregnant women have a higher risk of contracting malaria,which can,in turn, decrease the chance of a baby’s survival.
False Insecticide-treated bed nets decrease the risk of contracting malaria.
False Ronald Ross,a British officer in the Indian Medical Service, was the first person to demonstrate that mosquitoes transmit disease from one human being to another. Betsy Ross (January 1, 1752 - January 30, 1836) was actually best remembered for having sewn the first American flag which incorporated stars representing the first 13 colonies!
False The average costs for potentially life-saving treatments of malaria are estimated to be US $0.13 for chloroquine, US $0.14 for sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine, and US $2.68 for a 7-day course of quinine.
True Four Nobel prizes have been awarded for work associated with malaria. Sir Ronald Ross (1902), Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran (1907), Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1927) and Paul Hermann Muller (1948).
True About 1,200 cases of malaria are diagnosed in the United States each year. Most of these are “imported” by military personnel and travelers to, or immigrants from, countries where malaria is common. (Information derived principally from http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/facts.htm)