Solve the Outbreak – Middle School Level Sample Lesson Plan Page 1
Common Core Aligned Lesson Plan Middle
School Level
Lesson Element:
The activities included in this lesson plan can be done within two 45 minute or one 90 minute class period.
1. Common Core Learning Standards addressed:
The activities included in this lesson plan address the following Common Core Learning Standards
• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations.
• Asking Questions and Defining Problems.
• Cause and Effect.
2. Learning Targets:
After completing this lesson plan, students should be able to
• Understand how outbreak investigations are carried out.
• Know how to work through an outbreak investigation to solve a problem.
• Recognize and define a problem to investigate.
• List the steps used to answer science-based questions.
3. Resources/Materials:
• CDC’s Excite website: http://www.cdc.gov/EXCITE/
• Solve the Outbreak on -
o Android tablets - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.cdc.sto&hl=en
o Apple iPad - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/solve-the-outbreak/id592485067?mt=8
o CDC website - http://www.cdc.gov/mobile/applications/sto/web-app.html
• Steps in an outbreak investigation http://www.cdc.gov/ophss/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson6/section2.html.
• Rent or Purchase the movie Contagion.
• Rent or Purchase the movie Outbreak.
4. Activities/Tasks:
• Complete the Solve the Outbreak scenarios - Birthday Gone Bad, Up Sick Creek, and/or Midterm Revenge
scenario(s).
• Watch the What is Epidemiology video: http://www.cdc.gov/EXCITE/epidemiology.html.
• Discuss what happened in the scenario(s) with the classroom linking activities in the app with the steps in an
outbreak investigation http://www.cdc.gov/ophss/csels/dsepd/ss1978/lesson6/section2.html.
Note: The suggested scenarios included in this lesson plan were selected based on their level of relevance to the
selected Common Core Learning Standards listed in section 1. Each of the scenarios are listed as Level 3 within the
matrix, meaning they provide direct application of the concepts highlighted by the common core learning standards.
