Download virus web quest - Aurora City Schools

Name: _____________________________ Period: _____ Date: __________________________
Virus Internet Scavenger Hunt
Introduction: Viruses are both fascinating and a bit scary. This web study will give
you a brief introduction to viruses in general and a particular virus that has been in
the news throughout the spring and summer months. Explore, learn, enjoy!
Viruses, in general:
 http://library.thinkquest.org/13373/work/what.htm
 http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/infectious/virushuman.htm (click through pages)
1. Who is credited with discovering the virus and when?
2. Why are we not able to see viruses with the compound light microscopes we use in
the science lab?
3. What shapes do viruses assume?
4. Locate a photograph of a virus (click on gallery). Draw/identify the virus in the
space below. Do this for several viruses.
5. Name some diseases caused by viruses.
6. How big are viruses compared to bacteria.
7. What three main structures do all viruses have? (name and describe)
8. Name/describe the six stages of a viral infection. You may draw a picture, if you
wish.
9. How do you get infected with a virus, the flu, for example. That is, what happens
in your body because of a virus?
10. How does a fever help fight an infection?
11. What can be done to stop the spread of viruses?
12. What can medicines do to combat viruses?
How vaccines work
 http://skepticalob.blogspot.com/2009/10/how-do-vaccines-work.html
13. What are some side effects to being vaccinated? How often do they happen?
14. What is the first way your body protects you form bacteria and viruses?
15. Another way your body protects you is called non-specific immune response. What
does this mean and what does your body do?
16. What is an antibody?
17. How long does it take to produce antibodies the first and second times your body
encounters a germ?
18. What does a vaccine do to your immune system?
Influenza (The Flu)
 http://www.flufacts.com/know/what-is.jsp
 http://kidshealth.org/teen/infections/bacterial_viral/flu.html (click through
pages)
 http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/medical_care/flu_shot.html?tracking=T
_RelatedArticle# (click through pages)
 http://health.howstuffworks.com/diseases-conditions/cold-flu/flu.htm (click
through pages)
19. How can you catch the flu and how does it enter your body?
20. Who gets the flu most often and how many cases were reported in the U.S.?
21. What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic? How often do they
happen?
22. There was a pandemic in the early 20th century. When was it and how many were
killed?
23. Can you spread the flu without having it? Explain.
24. What are some symptoms of flu?
25. If you get a flu vaccine, what is in it?
26. What is the difference between Type A , Type B and Type C of the flu?
27. How can you cure the flu?
Bird Flu and Avian Influenza A (H5N1) Virus
28. What is the avian influenza A (H5N1) virus that has been reported in Africa, Asia,
Europe, and the Near East?
29. What are the risks to humans from the current H5N1 outbreak?
30. How is infection with H5N1 virus in humans treated?
31. Is there a vaccine to protect people from some strains of the H5N1 virus?
32. Does CDC recommend travel restrictions to areas with known H5N1 outbreaks?
33. What changes are needed for H5N1 or another avian influenza virus to cause a
pandemic?
34. What is CDC doing to prepare for a possible H5N1 influenza pandemic?
35. Ohio has a plan. Read a bit about it. What do you think about this?
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
West Nile Virus
 http://www.lanakids.com/mosquito.html
 http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/wnv_factsheet.htm
In order to understand the transmission of this disease, it is useful to study the
mosquito.
36. Do both sexes of mosquitoes bite? Explain.
37. How do mosquitoes find you?
38. – 39. List four ways to prevent being bitten by a mosquito.
40. Human illness from the West Nile virus is rare. Most people infected by the West
Nile Virus have no ___________________________________.
41. List three ways you can protect yourself from the West Nile virus.
42. West Nile virus is spread by the bite of a __________________________.
43. Is there evidence that West Nile virus can be spread from one person to another?
44. Why do zookeepers at the Bird House need to be concerned about the West Nile
virus?
There’s more stuff on the next page, but I skipped it in 2011-12
Ebola Virus
 http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/qa.htm
49. What is Ebola hemorrhagic fever? What year did we first see Ebola outbreak?
50. Where is Ebola virus found in nature?
51. How does Ebola spread?
52. What are the symptoms of Ebola?
53. How does Ebola kill?
54. How do you stop Ebola from spreading?
55. Can it be treated or cured?
56. How do you propose we stop the virus from spreading across the nation?
57. What years did USA had an occurrence of Ebola? How many deaths? How did it
get to the USA?
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/spb/mnpages/dispages/ebola/ebolatable.htm