Attack of the giant viruses

Short description

Scientists have discovered a giant 30 000 year old virus still alive under the permafrost. As the world warms, others will be uncovered. Could such an ancient virus wipe out the human race? In this activity, learn how to interrogate sources to separate science fact from fiction.

Learning objectives

• Apply knowledge of microorganisms to check the facts in a newspaper report.
• Evaluate how trustworthy scientific reports are in the media.

Blueprint curriculum link

• Unit: Cells
• Concept: Cell structure: Cells are the smallest elements of life that are alive. They have parts that play different roles in life functions
• Skills: Read: Identify bias
• Learning stage: Analyse

Activity contents

• Teachers guide
• PowerPoint file

The activity is delivered as a zip file. After you checkout, you will be sent an email with the link to download it.

Weblinks

Computer virus spreads to humans

The news story from the starter.

First human 'infected with computer virus'

Another version of the news story from the starter which gives a more realistic viewpoint of what happened.

30,000-year-old giant virus 'comes back to life'

BBC news story about the giant virus