Teaching and Learning about the COVID-19 Pandemic
As a benchmarking group, the GEBG not only provides membership-based examples of model practices, but we also curate scholarship in the field for the benefit of our members.
Below are some key resources to aid in teaching about COVID, organized around key curricular areas. Resources provide opportunities to investigate multiple perspectives, to bring current events into the classroom, and to make connections between and among various disciplines. Further resources, involving additional curricular areas, will be shared as the situation evolves.
Data and Statistics
The United Nations COVID-19 Data Hub–featuring different data resources being generated and utilized by nations worldwide–can be used as a tool to find/compare resources and to understand global perspectives through data
Resources to explore the math of the Coronavirus using a compilation of the New York Times graphs and data, including interactive tools
Mathematical modelling for diseases and how modeling shapes public policy, from Science Magazine via The Pulitzer Center
Visualized data and maps on global spread of the virus from the New York Times. This resource is also a good way to understand how global travel played a significant role in how the virus spread from one city in China across the globe
Visualized data and maps on hospital resources within the US by region, from the Washington Post (part of their free COVID-19 coverage)
Situation data reports from The World Health Organization are updated regularly, are downloadable, and are a good source for teaching with data
NPR article on hospital data showing racial disparity in COVID-19 cases in the United States
Sciences
“Five Months On, What Scientists Now Know About the Coronavirus” from the Guardian; article explores what medical researchers have thus far learned about COVID-19 and the global pandemic
The science behind what makes this coronavirus so sneaky, deadly, and difficult to defeat from the Washington Post with videos
“The 3 Ways Science Will Get Us Through The COVID-19 Pandemic” from Forbes addresses the importance of science in this global moment
National Geographic article and diagrams on virus mutations on how the changes in the pathogen help scientists follow cases without widespread testing
The Simthsonian’s American Museum of Natural History has a curriculum collection called “Bacteria Evolving: Tracing the Origins of a MRSA Epidemic” that includes articles and videos for students.
History/Social Studies
Audio interview on NPR–“Infections Diseases Show Societies Who They Really Are”–with historian Frank Snowden, author of Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present
“How Pandemics Change History”–an interview, also with Frank Snowden, in the New Yorker.
Great photos from the 1918 Flu Pandemic are available in The Ohio State University’s “Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective” project that could serve as great primary source material for evaluation/comparison
“Aspects of World War I: Spanish Flu” from the National Archives contains numerous primary source documents that could be used for middle- or high-school World or US History courses.
Case studies on global issues from World Savvy are a great resource in general; the one on infectious diseases looks at The Plague and Ebola
Historic and present-day resources and a lesson idea on teaching about racism and the Coronavirus from Facing History and Ourselves.
Global Perspectives on Current and Future Impact of Coronavirus
Newspaper headlines from around the world displayed through a world map from the Newseum.
With a focus on issues impacting Asia, videos of interviews and guest speakers from the Asia Society
Short article by António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the UN’s perspective on socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic with some downloadable reports for more in-depth study
“How will coronavirus change the world?” is a “long read” from the Guardian
National Geographic reporting on the first cases appearing in Brazil’s indigenous communities
Live updates on Coronavirus in India from the Economic Times
For articles on Globalization and COVID-19, GEBG Member Schools can see the “Globalization” Curriculum Folder in the GEBG Resource Library.