We are continuously learning about the unpredictable powers of nature. Throughout the course of history, neither wars nor natural disasters have killed as many people as viruses, bacteria, and parasites that cause disease. Within our environment, a throng of infectious pathogens perpetually surround us, some leading to mild or severe symptoms and others leading to none at all. Some of these infectious pathogens become widespread affecting whole areas, and sometimes across a continent or our entire globe. Unfortunately the likelihood of epidemics and pandemics is increasing, and has increased over time since humans have settled in larger cities, established long-distance trade routes, and increased contact with various populations, animals, and ecosystems. This term, Pandemic-a disease prevalent over several countries and/or the world-is a term making headlines across the globe, instilling fear in many, and urging scientists across the world to unite and find a cure.

Currently, the 8th graders are living through the COVID-19 pandemic, which has already changed the way we live, but this is not the only pandemic to have rattled our world. Over the course of 2,000 years, epidemics have had dramatic effects on human political and social history. There was also the avian flu outbreak in 1918, which left devastating effects, West Nile Virus, Ebola, Plague, HIV, SARS, just to name a few, all of which have made a lasting impact on science, as well as our political and social history.

In this unit, 8th Graders learned to act like epidemiologists in order to understand the role epidemiology plays in responding to disease outbreaks and protecting public health. They also looked at the persistence of disease and pandemics throughout history, as a means to grasp that understanding the factors that nurture pandemics and improvements to healthcare are powerful tools in mitigating their impact. They looked to answer several questions: How have epidemic and pandemic diseases shaped humanity, what weaknesses and strengths can pandemics expose in a society, what role should leaders, in government and elsewhere, play in controlling the spread of infectious disease, and finally what does it mean to be a "good citizen" in the context of a pandemic?