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Public Health Surveillance Lesson Plans

Public health surveillance is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data to help guide public health decision making and action. Surveillance is equivalent to monitoring the pulse of the community. The purpose of public health surveillance, sometimes called information for action, is to portray ongoing patterns of disease occurrence and disease potential so that investigation, control, and prevention measures can be applied efficiently and effectively. (Source: Principles of Epidemiology, 3rd Edition.)

These lesson plans focus on helping students identify patterns of health and disease and formulate hypotheses.

Learning objectives:

  • Define priority health-related phenomena for public health surveillance and design new systems that have potential to produce reliable data measurements considering limitations on precision of the data
  • Describe and evaluate a passive or active surveillance system using credible evidence
  • Organize and analyze public health data using tools, technologies, or models (e.g. computational, mathematical) to identify patterns of health and disease based on empirical evidence
  • Interpret patterns in empirical data to ask questions and formulate hypotheses based on what is known about the disease, descriptive epidemiology, and what others have postulated

Lesson Plans

Escherichia coli

High School Lesson Plans – Escherichia coli

I Have a Gut Feeling…E. coli O157:H7 Case Study [PDF – 29 pages] | PowerPoint [PPT – 212 KB]

Students use graphing and modeling skills to analyze surveillance data from an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Through the use of a case study, students identify how health-related phenomena can be characterized by person, place and time. To aid in the formulation of evidence-based hypotheses about the possible cause of disease, students learn how to identify priority health-related phenomena, collect reliable public health data through surveillance systems, and use appropriate models (e.g., charts, figures, graphs, or maps).

Obesity

Middle School Lesson Plans – Obesity

Spatial Analysis of Obesity: GIS and descriptive epidemiology [PDF – 41 pages]

Students use the geographic inquiry process to explore potential relationships among obesity, income level, and physical inactivity in the state of Georgia. Students use ArcGIS, a geographic information system (GIS), to layer data and analyze data to observe potential patterns. Students explore the role of epidemiologists from asking questions and testing hypotheses to identifying causes of health and disease. Then, based on the information collected, students design public health promotion strategies.

Middle School, High School – Obesity

Drink Up: Lesson in Survey Methodology [PDF – 23 pages]

Certain data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) are used to teach about the connection between soda and sports drink consumption among teens and teen health. Students will collect and analyze local peer data and learn health implications of their beverage choices while improving skills in critical thinking and data use to justify decision making. Students will practice real-life public health surveillance techniques, develop surveys, collect and compare data, and draw evidence-based conclusions. Throughout the lesson, students will learn about limitations and biases of different public health surveillance methods. Students will be encouraged to communicate their knowledge and create intervention strategies to positively influence beverage choices among their peers. This lesson is intended for students in grades 6–12.

Radon

High school lesson plan topics – Radon

Lurking Radon and Lung Cancer [PDF – 55 pages]

In this lesson plan, students will use public health surveillance data to investigate radon levels and lung cancer rates at the national level and in their local counties. Students will identify geographic patterns in data, graph radon levels and lung cancers rates, and then calculate lung cancer rates associated with high levels of radon. Students will learn about EPA recommendations for radon, how to test for radon, and have in-depth discussions about the social and political implications to control and prevent future exposure, specifically in schools and day care centers.

Lung Cancer

High school lesson plan topics – Lung Cancer

Lurking Radon and Lung Cancer [PDF – 55 pages]

In this lesson plan, students will use public health surveillance data to investigate radon levels and lung cancer rates at the national level and in their local counties. Students will identify geographic patterns in data, graph radon levels and lung cancers rates, and then calculate lung cancer rates associated with high levels of radon. Students will learn about EPA recommendations for radon, how to test for radon, and have in-depth discussions about the social and political implications to control and prevent future exposure, specifically in schools and day care centers.

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