Do you know who Jonas Salk is? Print these pages and have your middle and high schoolers read his biography in Time magazine. The reading itself is short, and it is followed with a key date chart, three reading questions, two connection...

Do the ends justify the means? Getting a drug approved in the US is a long and involved process. But at some point out, it involves testing on humans. The ethics of such testing is the focus of a resource that uses Dr. Albert Sabin's...

Imagine the determination it would take to build a helicopter out of scrap. Now imagine doing it while hindered by the effects of polio. Everything is Incredible, a short film by Tyler Bastian, introduces Agustin who has been working on...

The last reported case of polio in the United States was in 1979. But for those affected by the disease, what was life like before scientists found a cure? After reading a three-page passage on the disease, learners answer comprehension...

For this virus worksheet, 9th graders study the graph shown that illustrates the sizes of viruses, bacteria, and other structures. Then they state how large a red blood cell is and how large the smallest viruses are that affect plants....

Students research March of Dimes. In this disabilities lesson, students use the March of Dimes website to answer questions on a worksheet. Students discuss similar programs that collect money to help support the prevention of other...

Vaccines were first used in 1796, about 100 years before viruses were even discovered. Beginning with the history of scurvy and polio, viewers see how vaccines work and how they help humans overcome and eradicate diseases. 

Young scholars study the history of polio as well as a history of modern medicine, the history of alternative medicine and the role of the scientific method in each of these histories. They review the scientific method and research...

In this viruses activity, 9th graders look at the illustrations showing a virus reproducing itself in a bacterial cell. They name the step and describe what is happening in each illustration. Students also name three ways in which...

Help your scholars get a grasp on the chronology of the Industrial Revolution with this "Innovative Inventions" learning exercise. They discover what year various items were invented, and then create a timeline placing each invention...

Students listen as the teacher reads a book about an Olympic Gold Medal runner who made her big dream come true despite her hardships with polio.  In this Wilma Rudolph lesson, students think about and discuss what big dreams are and see...

How does a cocktail of aluminum, formaldehyde, and an infectious disease keep you healthy? Science scholars explore the composition and role of vaccines in a short video that explains how vaccines interact with our immune systems, why...

To boost disease prevention, high schoolers arm themselves with information about infectious diseases and how they spread. Scholars research the causes, prevention techniques, and identify high-risk groups especially vulnerable to a...

New ReviewIt all becomes a matter of timing. Groups use a variety of resources to research the history of vaccines by first creating a timeline of vaccine research using leading scientists' work. Learners read articles to develop a story of the...

Students brainstorm a list of science discoveries and inventions that they think are important. They work in small groups, students examine 1-3 science discoeries more closely. Each group needs a recorder, and they answer three...

Students use a variety of reference resources to research the life of Franklin Roosevelt. From this research, they determine why his image was chosen to appear on the dime.

Students examine how President Franklin Roosevelt kept his disability out the public eye. For this presidential history lesson, students analyze political cartoons and information from the Roosevelt Library to determine whether or not...

Examine global health issues and the philanthropic efforts of Bill Gates. Working in groups, your class will research selected diseases focusing on symptoms, transmission, and prevention. They also conclude by writing grant proposals to...

Discuss the life of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This story, called "Franklin D. Roosevelt" by Laura Hamilton Waxman, is used to explore comprehension skills. Some of these skills include identifying prefixes and suffixes, making comparisons,...

Here's an exercise that will help learners develop their vocabulary. The eight sentence completion problems are followed by an answer key that explains why one answer is correct and why the other possibilities are not. Richly detailed,...

Use this activity to help your class identify proper nouns. They circle the proper nouns in 16 sentences. Answer key is provided. 

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinions... but they're not entitled to their own facts." Michael Specter, a well-respected science and technology journalist, speaks eloquently about modern attitudes toward science and progress and...

It is through stories that a human connects to a concept. In a fun and creative assignment, learners explore the details of a virus by writing a fact-based fictional story about a certain virus. The story is not only used to help the...

All 50 US states require vaccinations for children entering public schools. Pupils set out to determine whether these requirements are fair with a thought-provoking resource. They read an interesting history of vaccines, watch pro and...