This presentation reviews a series of interdisciplinary exercises in which students sequence or “map” genetic mutations of the COVID virus to understand how variants evolve. They then use this information to track the global path of COVID variants on digital maps to identify how genetic and geographical information are used by scientists to create public health policy.
Students then compare the response to COVID in both Iceland and the United States to recognize how scientific information and cultural norms intersect to create public policy and affect public health outcomes. The information in this lesson is enhanced by personal experiences and interviews from NCGE’s Geocamp Iceland.
This session is intended to be part of the NCGE Geocamp Iceland’s Session “Iceland Experiences”. However, it can also be presented as a stand-alone session in which teachers go through the lessons as students themselves.
