Friday, February 7, 2020

Food For Thought: Viruses

A great week of online learning. Our students are lucky to have you as their teachers. so much innovative learning being enjoyed by our students. Very pleased to see so many of you trying new media techniques and learning from each other.

Food for Thought is three simple videos, a trailer from Netflix and an article that will help us understand viruses better and be able to discuss with our students why the school is closed.

Where did viruses originate?



How do Viruses jump from animals to Humans?





How do pandemics spread?



Netflix trailer: The next pandemic explained




It wouldn't be a Food for Thought if there wasn't something to think about, so here is a view from the Katherine A Mason in the  LA Times about the overreaction to the outbreak and the damage that might be doing.

"What is needed now is calm — both in China and throughout the global community. Citizens of all countries should stay home if they are ill and should wash their hands often in any case. Scientists should do their jobs in tracking and studying this new disease, without inciting public panic. In the meantime, broad quarantines of the general population (beyond those who are sick) should be lifted. This is not the end of the world. Treating the coronavirus outbreak as if it were will do a lot more harm than good."