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.; Poison Pump G Middle School History, Life Science, Health Du preparation time:30 minutes Activity time: 50 minutes Classroom SklQst Analyzing (identifying pat- terns); Interpreting (identi- Eying cause and effect) Chart! Cou Students should understand that water is a shared re- source ("Common Water"). Students may wish to con- tinue to learn about other waterborne diseases ("Su- per Sleuths"). Students are introduced. to ways humans can prevent the spread of disease in "No Bellyachers." Vocatwlary epidemic, waterborne, bac- teria, pathogen A killer has swept through the streets of London; hundreds are dead! Would you believe that an accomplice to this Terrible crime is something you use everyday? Objectives Students will: • apply investigative methods used by epidemiologists to trace the source of contagious diseases. aterial Each group of students will need the following: ® Student activity sheet, Broad Street Area Map (The map is a fictionalized representation of London streets in 1854.) • Copies of Victim Cards • Colored marking pens • Copies of Clue Cazds alcln Connections Of the world's leading diseases, over half depend on water for their transmission. These diseases often occur in cata- strophic proportions. Epidemics of the past and present intrigue many students. Through following the clues used by scientists in the past, students use investigative and analytic skills to locate the source of a killer disease. ac oun Cholera is a disease caused by the Vibrio cholerae bacterium. The bacterium travels through untreated water contaminated by human or animal feces. Cholera is spread by sharing contaminated water or by eating contaminated food.. Since the body does not produce lasting immunity against the bacterium, the disease can be contracted more than once. Cholera is characterized by rapid dehy- dration resulting from simultaneous vomiting, diarrhea, and profuse perspi- ration. As victims dehydrate, their skin darkens, shrivels, and loses its elasticity. Depending on general health, body mass, age, and amount of ingested bacteria, cholera victims may suffer only mild symptoms or can die in less than an hour. In 1854, hundreds of people living in London died during a cholera epidemic. The disease spread. from India to London on ships that carried contaminated drinl~hg water. If a ship was known to carry disease, the London port authori- ties refused to grant docking privileges. Rather than lose money on their cargo, some ship captains deceived the authori- ties by dumping contaminated water overboard into the Thames River, London's water source. London was served by competing water companies in 1854. At least one, in an effort to cut costs, failed to filter ad- equately the river water being pumped into the city. While upper- and most middle-class citizens had indoor plumb- ing, the poor of London relied on public pumps for their water needs. Dr. John Snow, considered the father of epidemiology, is credited with tracking and identifying the source and transmis- sion agent of the 1854 cholera epidemic. The agent for spread of the disease was found to be the Broad Street public P~P• Today, most people understand that unclean water carries organisms that cause disease. In the mid-nineteenth century, the idea of waterborne disease Poison Pump _ 93