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More STEM Lesson Plans

Junior Detectives Novel Cover

Check out CDC's “Junior Disease Detectives: Operation Outbreak” graphic novel.

In collaboration with K-12 STEM teachers and CDC subject matter experts, the CDC Science Ambassador Fellowship program has designed a series of various educational activities, collectively entitled: Teaching Tomorrow’s Disease Detectives: Science skills for the problem-based world. These activities are designed to help your students learn and practice skills, like disease detectives, that they can also apply to their daily lives.

Activities address 5 overarching themes in public health, including an introduction to epidemiology, public health surveillance, investigating an outbreak, preparedness and response, and careers and roles in public health. Activities also focus on the development of five major skill sets, including scientific design, identifying trends, decision-making, implementing action plans, and collaborative performance.

Activities were designed for teachers to use in the classroom. They have been aligned with Next Generation Science Standards* and CDC’s Epidemiology and Public Health Science: Core Competencies for High School Students [527MB, 33 Pages, 508]. We encourage teachers to tailor the activities to meet the needs of their students.

*Next Generation Science Standards is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards was involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product.

Additional resources for teachers can be found at the Resources for Teachers and Students web page.