Recommended Grade Levels: 9th-12th Grade

Description: This lesson explores the history of mosquito transmitted diseases in Florida, how mosquito control originated and has changed over time, and why it is especially important in the Florida Keys to have mosquito control initiatives. Students will learn about mosquito transmitted diseases found in South Florida and how mosquitoes transmit these illnesses to other animals. They will also be introduced to the research used to monitor disease in the county and the steps taken when a case is detected in the Florida Keys. This lesson includes an investigational case study where students use clues such as the location, the mosquito species present, and disease symptoms to identify which mosquito is the disease vector.

Florida State Academic Standards:

• SC.912.L.14.6 Explain the significance of genetic factors, environmental factors, and pathogenic agents to health from the perspectives of both individual and public health.
• SC.912.L.16.10 Evaluate the impact of biotechnology on the individual, society and the environment, including medical and ethical issues.
• SC.912.L.17.13 Discuss the need for adequate monitoring of environmental parameters when making policy decisions.
• SC.912.N.1.3 Recognize that the strength or usefulness of a scientific claim is evaluated through scientific argumentation, which depends on critical and logical thinking, and the active consideration of alternative scientific explanations to explain the data presented.
• SC.912.N.1.6 Describe how scientific inferences are drawn from scientific observations and provide examples from the content being studied.
• HE.912.CEH.3.1 Analyze community strategies for prevention, detection, and treatment of communicable and chronic diseases.