Infection Connection

Milestone 1.2
Prepared by:
Kevin Coffee
Topher Gee, Ph.D.
Matt Grasso

Project Team
Edward Bickford
Anthony Bisulca
Kevin Coffee
Topher Gee, Ph.D.
Matt Grasso
Kaman Li
Jonn McCollum, Ph.D.
Stacey Murnyak
Donough Ryan
Jonathan Ullman

October 10, 2002

Jersey City, NJ

Liberty Science Center

Rationale

The Infection Connection exhibition is being planned as a 7200 ft2 gallery that
explores infectious disease from both an individual and global perspective. This
exhibition will communicate basic biological concepts about infectious disease,
health and the immune system, and explore individual and collective decision
making as it relates to human infectious disease.

This plan draws directly on the mission of Liberty Science Center to be

“an innovative learning resource for lifelong exploration of nature,

humanity and technology, supporting the growth of our diverse
region and promoting informed stewardship of the world.”

It will meet this mission on several fronts. First, the project directly addresses
human health and biology. Second, the presentation will connect those topics to
population groups in other parts of the world. Third, it will explore the
environmental factors that contribute to disease outbreak and transmission.
Fourth, it will investigate the relationships between human activities, tools and
technologies that are or have been used to combat disease.

Audience

Interpretive information and experiences will be presented as a cascade of layers,

organized to provide a sufficiently complete explanation of the major themes of
the exhibition in an experientially rich and context-setting gallery space.

The project team envisions that Infection Connection communicates with four
specific teaching/learning audiences, identified as children aged 5 through 8,
students aged 9 through 13, adolescents aged 14 through 16, and parents or
other adults.

The exhibition will be developed and designed using a layered communication

approach to these audiences, including presentations of phenomena,
interpretive graphics, models and analogous examples, and mediated activities,
within a context-setting interior space.

This layered approach follows the typical cognitive cycle of practical experience
summarized as rational thinking about the thing or process that in turn
influences further practical activity leading to more advanced thinking. This
approach will be applied to all aspects of the exhibition project.

In order to increase accessibility to our diverse region, all interpretive text will be
presented in English and Spanish languages.

The gallery space and the modular experiences will be fully accessible to
audiences with special perceptual (e.g. hearing and sight) or mobility
requirements or limitations. All designs will be reviewed for conformance to
American National Standards Institute (ANSI) ergonomics specification 117.1 and
the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements defined as Title 1 and Title 3.

Audience Research

Project work to date has included an organized study of audience attitudes and
understanding of infectious diseases and a focus group with pre-K through 4th
grade school teachers. A transcript of that focus group discussion is appended to
this report.
Milestone 1.2 1
 Additional focus groups are being planned to include several groups of parents,
selected to inform our process about special requirements or interests related to
human biology and public health. These groups might be drawn from PTA or
community organizations, and be conducted at the Science Center or at schools
or other locale more convenient for the participants. This effort is being
organized cooperatively with the Sales & Community Outreach division staff.

During December 2001 and January 2002, a front-end audience study was
conducted by Beverly Serrell & Associates.

The purpose of this study was to investigate visitor familiarity with the topic and
to test audience understanding and attitudes toward some of the key concepts
that we intend to explain in the exhibition.

Interviews were conducted at Liberty Science Center, the New York Hall of
Science and the New Jersey State Aquarium. The total sample size was 160
respondents.

Some key findings of our audience study include:

A very large (91%) majority were familiar with the term “infectious disease” and
87% gave an accurate definition of the term. On the other hand, most disease
examples cited were AIDS, flu and common cold - all domestically significant
diseases.

In response to our question “how does it make you sick?’ most respondents
could not clearly articulate disease mechanisms or vectors.

When asked “what do you think people will find most interesting about the
topic?” the largest response categories included transmission,
prevention/protection, disease mechanisms, global aspects of disease, personal
relevance, and general awareness.

Serrell & Associates reported that they found “a strong interest in public health
issues” and that “there seems to be a good opportunity for the exhibits to make
connections between public health, common symptoms and the biology of
infectious diseases.”

The complete audience study was appended to the Milestone 1.1 progress report
issued in July 2002.

Concept Introduction

We have summarized the intent of the exhibition with this overview statement:
“Individual and collective choices determine the impact that
infectious diseases have on the health of people around the
world.”

We have further identified a series of key messages that we intend to

communicate throughout the exhibition.
• Changing the heritable information that cells contain has consequences.
• Some viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and proteins cause human infectious
diseases.
• Infectious diseases result when pathogens interfere with a host's normal
processes.
• Natural mechanisms combined with adjuvants (e.g. herbs, drugs, vaccines,

Milestone 1.2 2
 etc.) help prevent or eliminate infections.
• Systems respond to external input and also exert influences on the larger
environments of which they are a part.
• Human decisions affect susceptibility to and risk of infectious diseases.
• Epidemiologists identify and track diseases to inform decision-making.
• Human infectious disease prevalence and prognoses differ regionally and
among social circumstances.
These concepts are being organized through a large series of specific, modular,
experiences and interpretive displays that will be grouped into six concept zones:
• Variables
• Decisions
• Infectious Disease Primer
• Tools and technologies
• Manipulations
• Repercussions
Educational Goals

The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences has

developed national education content standards for teaching science in primary
and secondary schools. Those content standards are based on three major
criteria. The first is an obligation that subject matter be accurate. The second is
an obligation to develop content standards that appropriately represent the
developmental and learning abilities of students. The third is an obligation to
present standards in a usable form for those who must implement the standards.

The NAS/NRC content standards are organized into eight general subject
categories, and identified according to school grade ranges. Infection
Connection will address a large subset of these standards throughout the
exhibition, as follows:

Grades K through 4
Content standard A - Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry
Content standard C - Life Science
• An understanding of the characteristics of organisms
• An understanding of life cycles of organisms
• An understanding of organisms and environments
Content standard E - Science and Technology
• Abilities of technological design
• An understanding about science and technology
• Abilities to distinguish between natural objects and objects made by humans
Content standard F - Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• An understanding of personal health
• An understanding of characteristics and changes in populations
• An understanding of types of resources
• An understanding of changes in environments
• An understanding of science and technology in local challenges
Content standard G - History and Nature of Science
• An understanding of science as a human endeavor

Milestone 1.2 3
 Grades 5 through 8
Content standard A - Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry
Content standard C - Life Science
• An understanding of structure and function in living systems
• An understanding of reproduction and heredity
• An understanding of regulation and behavior
• An understanding of populations and ecosystems
• An understanding of diversity and adaptations of organisms
Content standard E - Science and Technology
• Abilities of technological design
• An understanding about science and technology
Content standard F - Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• An understanding of personal health
• An understanding of populations, resources, and environments
• An understanding of natural hazards
• An understanding of risks and benefits
• An understanding of science and technology in society
Content standard G - History and Nature of Science
• Develop an understanding of science as a human endeavor
• Develop an understanding of the nature of science
• Develop an understanding of the history of science
Grades 9 through 12
Content standard A - Science as Inquiry
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
• Understanding about scientific inquiry
Content standard C - Life Science
• An understanding of the cell
• An understanding of the molecular basis of heredity
• An understanding of biological evolution
• An understanding of the interdependence of organisms
• An understanding of matter, energy, and organization in living systems
• An understanding of the behavior of organisms
Content standard E - Science and Technology
• Abilities of technological design
• Understanding about science and technology
Content standard F - Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
• An understanding of personal and community health
• An understanding of population growth
• An understanding of natural resources
• An understanding of environmental quality
• An understanding of natural and human-induced hazards
• An understanding of science and technology in local, national, and global
challenges
Content standard G - History and Nature of Science
• An understanding of science as a human endeavor
• An understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge
• An understanding of historical perspectives

In addition to the NAS standards, the Infection Connection team is measuring

the intended communication goals of the exhibition against the Benchmarks
identified by Project 2061 of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science. The AAAS Benchmarks are included as an appendix to this report.
Milestone 1.2 4
Narrative &
Experience
Walk-through
The teaching and learning content of Infection Connection is organized into six
major zones and a total of 36 discrete content modules. The current draft
descriptions of four of these zones are summarized here. The Manipulations and
Repercussions zones are in-progress, working drafts will be completed by
October 30, 2002.

Gallery design establishes the context for understanding the content narrative,
either very directly as visual narrative, or less directly in a more stylized manner.
For example, in specific areas of the gallery we may communicate the
environment in which various organisms reside. Design will communicate the
relationships between these organisms and their impacts on one another.

Design will also demonstrate that world regions consist of many populations,
populations are made up of individuals, and that there are multiple organisms
within each person. Human interactions, healthcare facilities, and regional
politics will inspire other types of gallery interior space.

The overall atmosphere will be established using a variety of materials, lighting

effects, and other forms of visitor immersion within discrete spaces of the
gallery.

As of this writing, the project team has reviewed a range of presentation

concepts for the Primer, Variables, Decisions, and Tools and Technologies zones.
The remaining modules are in-progress.

The design concepts described below represent the beginning of an iterative

process. The team will conduct further discussions to develop the best possible
solutions.

Variables

Whether considering a single cell, a whole organism, or an entire country, all

systems consist of component parts. Some of these parts remain identical
between different examples of the same system while others vary. It is these
variables that give the individual systems their unique characters and shape the
ways that they respond to infectious diseases.

The Variable area may be organized around a central, very large multimedia
display that allows visitors to interact and change the images presented. Still
and motion picture images of social, economic and environmental factors,
human biology and other representations of the spectrum of general factors
that contribute to or drive infectious disease, in the immediate vicinity of the
factor or at a distance in time or space. This large, room-sized display would
provide touch-sensitive input devices, enabling visitors to intervene in the
selection of variables to test how factors interact and the chance probability
involved. Smaller screen displays around the area, included with or alongside
other content modules, further involve visitors in the selection and activity of
variable factors for disease.

Milestone 1.2 5
 Module IC.1.01: Genetic variables
Overview
Genetic mutations create variability among cells that can influence an
individual's risk from infectious diseases.
Content Description
Every cell contains information recorded in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
molecules. This information is organized in functional units called genes.
Alterations of this information can change a cell's or organism's properties and
can affect its risk from or its ability to cause infectious diseases.

Design Description

In this area, the visitor encounters organisms at the molecular level. Through
group interactivity and observation, guests will compare variability within
individual systems. Skewed video monitors and interpretive graphics will
illustrate the fractal nature of molecular variation within the larger
environment. Immediately, these changes will cascade vertically and horizontally
in response to the cause and effect nature of these systems interacting with one
another throughout the zone. Changes in the genetic makeup will be
highlighted to show how these systems respond to infectious diseases.

Module IC.1.02: Pathogen Diversity

Overview
Infections constitute an enormous range of diseases because of the diversity of
infectious agents, their target tissues, and their mechanisms of infection.
Content Description
Pathogens exhibit tremendous diversity within and across the general categories
of viruses, bacteria, protozoan, fungi, worms, and prions. The routes and
mechanisms of infection and the target cells and organ systems are also greatly
varied. All of these differences mean that a wide range of symptoms and
prognoses are associated with infectious diseases.

Design Description

Here, visitors encounter organisms at the pathogenic level. Through group

interactivity and observation, guests will compare variability within individual
systems. Skewed video monitors and interpretive graphics will illustrate the
fractal nature of pathogen variation within the larger environment.
Immediately, these changes will cascade vertically and horizontally in response to
the cause and effect nature of these systems interacting with one another
throughout the zone. Highlighted will be the diversity of the pathogens along
with the circumstances in which they flourish.

Module IC.1.03: Variability in immune system function

Overview
Factors specific to each person influence the body's ability to defend against
infectious diseases.
Content description
The immune response is the body system responsible for identifying and
eliminating foreign organisms. Genetic information and the variability of the
physical environment determine how well the immune system performs.
Milestone 1.2 6
 Design Description

Similar to IC.1.01, visitors encounter organisms at the molecular level. Here, the
immune system will be the focus of the presentation. Through group interactivity
and observation, guests will compare variability within individual systems. Skewed
video monitors and interpretive graphics will illustrate the fractal nature of
molecular variation within the larger environment. Immediately, these changes will
cascade vertically and horizontally in response to the cause and effect nature of
these systems interacting with one another throughout the zone. Changes in the
genetic makeup and the physical environment will be highlighted to show how the
immune system responds to infectious diseases.

Module IC.1.04: Drugs and therapies as variable

Overview
Drugs and therapies can change a person's response to an infection.
Content Description
Drugs and vaccines are two common means of combating infectious diseases. Both
can involve undesirable side effects. Bacterial resistance and death of native flora
are examples of such consequences. "Natural" supplements come with a host of
risks as well.

Design Description

In this module, visitors encounter the effects different chemicals have on the
human body. Through group interactivity and observation, guests will compare
variability within individual systems. Skewed video monitors and interpretive
graphics will illustrate the fractal nature of human variation within the larger
environment. Immediately, these changes will cascade vertically and horizontally in
response to the cause and effect nature of these systems interacting with one
another throughout the zone. Changes in the human body as a result of
traditional and alternative therapies will highlight the response to infection.

Module IC.1.05: Environmental variables

Overview
Environmental variables can cause or contribute to the onset or spread of
infectious diseases.
Content Description
All organisms are dependent upon non-living environmental conditions, such as
climate, sunlight, water, and chemical nutrients. They are also inter-dependent
with other organisms. This means that organisms must be considered as part of the
environmental conditions experienced by other organisms. Some environmental
conditions promote disease-causing pathogens while others promote healthy
human life.

Design Description

Visitors encounter the interdependence of organisms and their environment.

Through group interactivity and observation, guests will compare variability within
individual systems. Skewed video monitors and interpretive graphics will illustrate
the fractal nature of organismal variation within the larger environment.
Immediately, these changes will cascade vertically and horizontally in response to
the cause and effect nature of these systems interacting with one another

Milestone 1.2 7
 throughout the zone. Changes in the environment will be highlighted to show the
positive or negative response.

Module IC.1.06: Societal factors as variables

Overview
Societal factors like cultural attitudes, political will, wealth, and infrastructure all
contribute to the realities of human infectious diseases.
Content Description
Societal factors are important environmental variables that influence the realities
of human infectious diseases. They determine what diseases will be studied and
who will have access to treatments. Ultimately, they play a substantial role in
determining an infected individual's prognosis. In these ways, politics, cultural
attitudes, and wealth come to bear on human infectious diseases.

Design Description

Visitors encounter the sociological variables of several regions. Through group

interactivity and observation, guests will compare variability within individual
systems. Skewed video monitors and interpretive graphics will illustrate the fractal
nature of societal variation within the larger environment. Immediately, these
changes will cascade vertically and horizontally in response to the cause and effect
nature of these systems interacting with one another throughout the zone.
Changes in the social environment will be highlighted to show how political,
cultural, and economical circumstances can affect the prevalence of infectious
diseases.

Decisions

People make choices that affect human infectious diseases. Whether made
personally or by another, individually or collectively, these decisions change the
probability that infectious diseases will be contracted and transmitted. Considered
decision making requires awareness of the specific relationships between causes,
effects, and their implications.

The Decisions area will focus on factors that people control and will represent how
those factors interact in space and time. This central presentation will include
cultural or societal influences as factors in societies around the world, with an
emphasis on Asia, Africa and Latin America, but including as analogy, similar social
behaviors in North America and Europe. The presentation will also include
consumer and other economic-type choices that have cascading or synergistic
effects, such as zoonotic diseases. A key feature of this area will be methods, such
as software displays, that enable visitors to record their decisions and test or
measure the results of those decisions in relation to other visitors and over time.

Module IC.2.01: Drug and therapy decisions

Overview
Individually and collectively, human beings make decisions regarding drugs and
therapies used to combat infectious diseases.
Content Description
Vaccines and antibiotics have revolutionized mankind's ability to combat infectious
disease. Our individual and collective choices have intended as well as unintended
consequences. While many of our choices contribute to the battle against

Milestone 1.2 8
 infectious diseases, some of our decisions actually make the battle more difficult.

Design Description

The individual decisions a person makes regarding their use of drugs and therapies
will be covered in this module. As a part of a computer interactive, visitors will be
given personal testimony from users of traditional and alternative therapies. They
will then be able to learn more or enter their own experiences regarding the types
and effects such therapies may have had on them. Next to this display will be a
touch-screen displaying two large categories - vaccines and antibiotics. Guests will
be prompted to match several scenarios to one of the two categories. This will be
performed until everything matches up.

Module IC.2.02: Personal risk and decisions

Overview
An individual has many opportunities to control personal risk of infectious diseases
by make decisions that influence exposure, awareness, and the body's ability to
combat pathogens.
Content Description
Whether a person makes an effort to control personal exposure to infectious
diseases is the difference between facilitating and preventing their spread. An
individual can decrease exposure to pathogens, improve understanding of personal
circumstances through testing, target pathogens through vaccination and
prophylactic drug use, or simply maximize the body's natural abilities to fight
infections. There are very clear personal advantages to preventing encounters with
infectious diseases.

Design Description

One aspect to this module contains a life-size human figure abstraction with
several small screen displays connected to parts of the body affiliated with
spreading disease. Short video clips enact how these parts of the body come into
contact with germs on a day to day basis.

Module IC.2.03: Individuals' decisions affect others' risks

Overview
An individual's actions can influence the threat that infectious diseases pose to
other people.
Content Description
Vaccines prevent diseases in the individuals who receive them and help keep
infection rates down. As a medical procedure, vaccines are administered for the
prevention of specific infectious diseases. Behaviorally, individuals can reduce
infections by taking personal responsibility for the collective population. Personal
hygiene and our activities in a given environment can present immune challenges
for other people.

Design Description

This module is setup as a strategic game of personal and public prevention.

Module IC.2.04: Decisions and microbicide resistance

Overview
Misuse of microbicides can generate resistance in pathogens.
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 Content Description
Inappropriate use of microbicides, failure to complete drug regimens, and
widespread use of microbicides all contribute to drug resistance by creating
selective pressures. Sloppy removal (imprecise excision) of a viral genome from
host DNA can cause the virus to pick up host genes. Transfer of genetic material
between bacterial species (bacterial conjugation) can also lead to gene sharing. In
these ways, even when drug resistance develops in a nonpathogen it can be
transferred to a pathogen.

Design Description

As a time lapse scenario, guests are prompted to make day to day decisions
concerning antibiotic use. Evolutionary effects on pathogens are drastically sped-
up following each decision. After enough antibiotic use the pathogen becomes
resistant, rendering the treatments useless.

Module IC.2.05: Decisions affect regional differences

Overview
People contract and die from infectious diseases at different rates around the
world because of societal, not biological factors.
Content Description
Infectious diseases affect people to different degrees around the world. Physical,
intellectual, and manufacturing infrastructure all contribute to this imbalance. At
its core, however, politics dictates the state of affairs. In biological terms, all
people are equal.

Design Description

In this module several relief portraits represent regions of the globe. Each region's
social structure is written in text. A mini theater presentation contains interviews
of various medical professionals concerning these regions. Following the
presentation, visitors are asked to submit and share suggestions to improve the
overall well being of any particular region.

Module IC.2.06: Economic decisions as factors

Overview
Decisions about financial resources affect both prevention and spread of infectious
diseases.
Content Description
Public health care is frequently controlled by economic factors, including access to
food and proper nutrition, access to preventive health care, and access to timely
treatment after the onset of disease. Because human population congregates
according to common economic activity and conditions, communicable disease will
be spread according to those factors as well. Finally, poorer urban and rural areas
are less likely to have access to clean water supplies or appropriate sewage
treatment, and the absence of these significantly increases the risk for infectious
diseases.

Design Description

Activities in this area focus on the distribution of wealth in different countries

around the world. Guests should be able to clearly associate wealth with living
conditions, essentially determining the severity of infectious diseases in that region.
Milestone 1.2 10
 Much of the information will be based on current statistics; data will need to be
updated.

Module IC.2.07: Social organization factors into infectious diseases

Overview
Factors that produce or accompany social organization may represent a route for
the spread of an infectious disease.
Content Description
Human population groups form according to common economic and/or cultural
conditions and so infectious diseases will be spread according to those organizing
conditions as well. Individual attitudes toward factors in the transmission of disease
may also be learned and culturally conditioned (e.g. spitting, hand-shaking,
personal hygiene habits). Actual or threatened coercion and violence directed
against individuals or groups also represents a major social condition of personal
and public health.

Design Description

Here, several scale 3D and 2D vignettes compare the social organization of

different regions. Many fundamental circumstances for the proliferation of
infectious diseases are displayed throughout the scenes. Visitors are asked to refer
to the scene on touch panels that either inform them of a potential hazard or
reveal a safe practice. Take-home flyers are on display for guests to further their
knowledge. Described in detail are specific social circumstances that contribute to
or prevent the spread of infectious diseases. One aspect of the text deals with
what you, as an individual, can do to improve the situations.

Infectious Diseases Primer

A synergy of physics, chemistry, and biology defines human existence. These same
factors delineate the properties of pathogens. The intersections of the scientific
features of humans and of pathogens dictate the characteristics of human
infectious diseases.

The Primer zone may be a large room that visitors enter through a sculptural,
abstracted, and giant (x200) human nostril, passing through a dark corridor, lined
with cilia-like elements, feeling humid air passing over them, with an occasional
stronger blast of air. A second entrance into the physical space of that zone
represents a giant, abstracted human mouth, represented with appropriate
analogue architectural details, such as highly resilient floor and wall surfaces,
moving air, and random glottal and guttural sounds.

Module IC.3.01: Infection initiation

Overview
Pathogens have evolved diverse strategies for the initiation of disease.
Content Description
Diverse, efficient, and sophisticated access strategies have evolved that allow
pathogens to overcome host natural defenses. Although the bacteria that infect
the intestine may cause different diseases, they have pathogenic genes that are
highly conserved across different genera. Each stage in the life cycle of a parasitic
worm plays a different role in the process of infection. Viruses typically enter host
Milestone 1.2 11
 cells or inject their genome into host cells.

Design Description

Entering into this module visitors follow the path that a microorganism would take
to get inside of its human host. Here, the architecture moves over guests' heads in
the abstracted form of an upper lip. Moving up a slight incline, the floor
treatment resembles a human tongue. Motion lighting effects create movement
on the floor surface. Horizontal spans of video panels positioned as teeth
transition the external body to the internal. Immediately following are immense
models demonstrating how pathogens gain access to the body. The large models
of infectious agents are seen and touched as the visitor moves through the content
for the second module.

Module IC.3.02: Pathogen-Host Interactions

Overview
Specific cellular biochemical processes are usually the targets of attacking
pathogens.
Content Description
Cells are the basic unit of life and health. Different cells perform different
functions for the body and when infectious agents target these functions, different
types of disease will result. The wide diversity of infectious disease symptoms
derives from the multitude of important cellular biochemical processes that can be
disrupted. Pathogenic agents have evolved highly selective molecular strategies
that target specific cellular processes.

Design Description

Now in the middle of the corridor the guest is surrounded on all sides, including
the floor and ceiling by 2D and 3D representations of cells, viruses, prions, and
other pathogens. Models are suspended in a false wall that is backed by
illuminated graphics and moving images. Manipulative presentations are set inside
cutaway models.

Module IC.3.03: Drug and vaccine functions

Overview
Drugs and vaccines can be used to aid the struggle against infectious diseases.
Content Description
The discovery, production, and appropriate use of vaccines and antibiotics are vital
to human health. Vaccines prepare the immune system to respond to future
infections. Antibiotics can prevent the replication or survival of some living (i.e.
bacteria, fungi, protozoans, and parasitic worms) pathogens but are useless against
viruses or prions.

Design Description

Here, the focus changes from the pathogen makeup to the effects that drugs and
therapies have on the infectious agent and the body. Touch screen interactives
allow the visitor to compare treatments and understand the effects of his/her
choices.

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 Module IC.3.04: Microbicide resistance
Overview
Some human practices contribute to creating an environment in which microbicide-
resistant bacteria can grow and flourish.
Content Description
Microbicide resistance is a growing public health concern. With the growth of
international trade and travel, it is an issue that must be addressed on the global
level. As more and more microbes become resistant to existing drugs, new
products must be developed to prevent and treat infections. Human activity is
contributing greatly to the selective pressures on pathogens and increasing the rate
at which the pathogens are developing resistance.

Design Description

The end (or beginning) of the corridor is lined with pathogens that show human
impact and influence. At the opening are models and graphics that once again
demonstrate pathogen access into the body. Here, nostril archways and cilia lined
paneling create the transition between the external and internal environments.

Module IC.3.05: Environment contributes to pathogen transmission

Overview
A range of environmental conditions influence the spread of infectious diseases.
Content Description
The concept of "environment" must be considered broadly: individual hosts
constitute the environment of the pathogen while population groups comprise
part of an individual's environment. Environmental conditions can affect the
lifecycle of animal vectors (like insects or small mammals), individual human health,
human population density, or the lifecycle of the pathogens directly.
Environmental conditions that facilitate pathogen entry into the body can also
promote infection.

Design Description

Set against backdrops of different environmental scenarios, this module clearly

links pathogen lifecycle to the environment. Freestanding graphic panels create 2-
sided dividers cut in different shapes and sizes representing stylized versions of
human figures. Panels contain murals to depict different environments. Guests are
cued to speculate about pathogen lifecycles.

Module IC.3.06: Immune system function

Overview
A person's immune system eliminates foreign invaders, reacts differently when
exposed to something more than once, and can cause problems by over reacting.
Content Description
The immune system combines cell-mediated and antibody-mediated responses to
identify and eliminating pathogens. Throughout our lives, exposure to pathogens
challenges our immune system. These challenges shape the ways that our bodies
respond to future infections. Allergies can be a consequence of the immune
system's adaptability.

Milestone 1.2 13
 Design Description

Approaching the end of the corridor, the visitor becomes either part of the immune
system or a pathogen. Game-like presentations encourage groups to interact and
understand the outcomes.

Module IC.3.07: Transmission mechanisms and risk

Overview
Understanding how infectious diseases are transmitted allows one to limit the
likelihood that a particular type of transmission will occur.
Content Description
Pathogens can be transmitted by three general mechanisms: a) transfer of bodily
fluids or tissues, b) inhalation, and c) consumption of contaminated food or water.
Recognizing the ways that transmission occurs permits the identification of steps
that interrupt this transmission. Utilizing what we know about the basic biology of
infectious diseases and their causal agents, we can take steps to reduce the risks
that they pose.

Design Description

The landscape for this module contains small sliding panels on the walls and tables
that represent mechanisms of transmission. Activities guide visitors through the
process of decision making based on objective or subjective factors, such as the
roles people play at the local or global scale.

Tools and technologies

The need to combat, investigate, and alter infectious agents has led to the
development of a number of resources. From satellite imaging to molecular
modification to mathematical modeling, our ability to recognize, follow, and
transform pathogens has changed dramatically. The ways that these technologies
are employed will determine whether they provide greater protection or produce
greater danger.

Tools and technology will present the narrative stories about toolmakers and tool
users involved in prevention, treatment or education about infectious disease. This
is envisioned as a series of life-sized tableaus - presentations that show a range of
activities important to controlling infectious diseases around the world and
includes personal narratives as well as real objects. These include some typical
domestic dwelling spaces, a refugee camp, a rural health clinic, an urban hospital, a
pharmaceutical lab, and a hazardous pathogen lab. These spaces will provide self-
guided experiences that explain through simulated environments the types of
technology used to combat ID. These spaces could also be staging areas for
mediated activities, such as small-audience demonstrations and electronic field
trips.

Module IC.4.01: Tools for changing DNA

Overview
Selective additions and deletions can be made to a pathogen's genome.
Content Description
An organism's genome, its DNA, contains the genetic instructions that makes it the
specific kind of organism that it is (i.e. a rose, worm, or human). Changes to that
DNA change the organism. Mutagens randomly mutate DNA whereas plasmids
Milestone 1.2 14
 specifically target a genome for mutation. Plasmids can also be used to create
transgenic pathogens that have new characteristics. Intentionally applied selective
pressures allow a level of control over genome modifications in the laboratory.

Design Description

In this partially divided space, a walk-through replica of a normal lab environment

encourages visitors to immerse themselves in the tools and technologies used by
researchers in epidemiology. Activity areas, such as a glove boxes, mimic real world
scenarios. Artifacts line the interior of this space as well as sounds, and fluorescent
lighting. Attention to education and careers is highlighted in this area. This area
also doubles as a stage for mediated demonstrations that make use of the artifacts
and experiment tables.

Module IC.4.02: Vaccines and antibiotics as tools

Overview
The discovery of vaccines and antibiotics introduced powerful means by which to
control and in some cases eradicate infectious diseases.
Content Description
Vaccines and antibiotics have revolutionized our ability to combat infectious
diseases. Vaccines have contributed to the control and in some cases the
eradication of infectious diseases. Antibiotics, while not perfect "magic bullets",
have allowed for effective treatment of many bacterial infectious diseases. As with
all types of "tools", these advancements are tempered by disparities in their
availability and, in certain cases, their misuse.

Design Description

Similarly in this module, a partially divided space creates a walk-through

environment. The treatment of the space blends environments together that deal
with treatment procedures. From vaccinations by a local medical professional to
fieldwork in South Africa, visitors are encouraged to conduct simulations of a
variety of tasks. Alluded to is information on the history and development of
treatment strategies. Attention to education and careers is highlighted in this
area. This area also doubles as a stage for mediated demonstrations that make use
of the artifacts and materials described in the module.

Module IC.4.03: Nutrition and immune system capability

Overview
Proper nutrition maximizes the immune system's capability.
Content Description
The immune system is the body's protection against damage form invading foreign
organisms. In order for it to function properly, it must have the support of proper
nutrition. Nutritional immunology is the field of study that looks at the
relationship between proper nutrition and the immune system.

Design Description

The divided area created in this space takes a close look at how nutrition and other
preventative steps affect the immune system. A partial environment portrays
situations we as individuals may face on any given day. Issues regarding kitchen
sanitation, hand washing, and sexually transmitted diseases will be addressed.
Oversized models of the immune system represent the response to infections and
Milestone 1.2 15
 the effects of poor and proper nutrition. In conjunction with these descriptions are
real world scenarios that identify what foods we should eat to help maintain good
health. Attention to awareness and prevention is shown in this section. This area
also doubles as a stage for mediated demonstrations that make use of the artifacts
and diagrams.

Module IC.4.04: Tools for protecting others

Overview
Actions taken by one can protect other persons from contracting an infectious
disease. These actions constitute important tools for controlling transmission and
spread of infectious disease.
Content Description
Individual actions constitute important methods for disease control. Personal
hygiene, health surveillance or maintenance, and behaviors that prevent
transmission are important contributing factors of infectious disease. In order to
control these factors, persons must first be aware of each factor and, second, be
aware of how they control or can act to control these factors so that diseases are
prevented or contained.

Design Description

The walk-through seen here represents several aspects of pathogen transmission.

At one level, environmental conditions are modeled to show where pathogens
reside such as subway cars or public washrooms. Another scenario will show the
high transmission levels in classrooms or offices. Preventative measures such as the
importance of vaccination will also be addressed. This area also doubles as a stage
for mediated demonstrations that make use of the artifacts and diagrams.

Module IC.4.05: Epidemiology as a tool

Overview
Epidemiologists study disease identities and transmission characteristics to facilitate
treatment, minimize disease impact, and inform decision making.
Content Description
Epidemiologists examine a number of factors to understand infectious diseases and
the ways that they affect communities. Graphing and mapping are important tools
for the presentation and interpretation of these factors. Knowledge accumulated
in this way allows modeling that can influence policy decisions intended to prevent
or respond to infectious disease outbreaks.

Design Description

In this staging area, a fictitious control center is modeled for visitors to conduct
activities such as disease tracking and surveillance on a global level. Acting out
detective roles, guests are asked to work as a group at many different levels to
uncover as much information as they can. Several types of maps and graphs are
projected on the walls. Freestanding kiosks are used to uncover clues and direct
strategy. Attention to education and careers is highlighted in this area. This area
also doubles as a stage for mediated demonstrations that make use of the artifacts
and activity tables.

Milestone 1.2 16
 Manipulations

The Manipulations zone will put visitors in roles that allow them to exert various
pressures on pathogens. The environment surrounding the visitor could be a
backdrop consisting of curved walls and an arch ceiling. Displayed on these three
surfaces will be graphically stylized maps of the world. Images of entire continents
and plan view details are floating in a deep blue hue. Lighting effects will line the
intersection between the walls and the floor, creating an upward fade from light
to dark. The floor may be adorned with cloud patterns accented by direct
spotlights. With random spacing, translucent vertical panels will line the walkway
and back-lights will reveal still images and text. Freestanding columns support the
hands-on manipulative presentations.

Repercussions

The goal of the Repercussion zone is to communicate the impacts human decisions
have on the proliferation and control of infectious diseases. Distinct modules will
use the relationships of the various players to reinforce the importance of balance
and maintaining an ecological equilibrium. Guests will be asked to interpret the
information based on cause and effect. Using low walls and bench-style seating,
modules will have pathways connecting them to one another. Randomly spread
throughout the zone, computer stations and hard copy materials might offer the
more curious visitor the opportunity to delve more deeply into some of the topics
addressed in the exhibition. Situated in an open floor space, programs will
encourage topical discussions along with individual and group activities.

Milestone 1.2 17
Advisory Committee
Sandy Buleza
President, New Jersey Science Teachers Association
Ed Colangelo
Environmental science teacher
Nancy Connell, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey - New Jersey Medical School
Rob DeSalle, Ph.D.
Co-director of the Molecular Systematics Laboratories and Curator Division of
Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History
Michael Grieco, M.D.
Physician
Beth Kelly
Teacher, Howard Elementary School, East Orange, New Jersey
Gigi Kwik, Ph.D.
Fellow, Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutes
Don Louria, M.D.
Professor and Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Preventive Medicine and
Community Health, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - New
Jersey Medical School
Ferd Massari, M.D.
Vice President for Global Clinical Research, Infectious Diseases, Phamacia
Corporation
Anne Platt McGinn
Senior Researcher, Worldwatch Institute
Steve Morse, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Public Health and Director of the Center for Public Health
Preparedness, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
John Parascandola, Ph.D.
Historian, Public Health Service
Leon Smith Sr., M.D.
Director of Medicine and Chief of Infectious Diseases, Saint Michael's Medical
Center; and Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health and Prevention
Medicine, New Jersey Medical School
William A. Tansey III, M.D.
Cardiologist, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Liberty Science Center
Angela Wasunna
Associate for International Programs, The Hastings Center
Martin Weiss, Ph.D.
Director of Science, New York Hall of Science

Milestone 1.2 18
Appendix A
Project 2061 Benchmarks
The American Association for the Advancement of Science Project 2061 has
published the document Benchmarks for Science Literacy, that includes summary
statements of what all students should know or be able to do in science,
mathematics, and technology in the course of their K-12 formal education.

The Project 2061 Benchmarks include many learning goals that will be addressed in
some form or will be reinforced by Infection Connection. The Benchmarks are
categorized by grade level, with divisions at grades 2, 5, 8 and 12. The following
learning objectives relate to this project.

(through Grade 2)
• Plants and animals have features that help them live in different environments.
• There is variation among individuals of one kind within a population.
• Offspring are very much, but not exactly, like their parents and like one another.
• Magnifiers help people see things they could not see without them.
• Different plants and animals have external features that help them thrive in
different kinds of places.
• People have different external features, such as the size, shape, and color of
hair, skin, and eyes, but they are more like one another than like other animals.
• Eating a variety of healthful foods and getting enough exercise and rest help
people to stay healthy.
• Some things people take into their bodies from the environment can hurt them.
• Some diseases are caused by germs, some are not. Diseases caused by germs may
be spread by people who have them. Washing one's hands with soap and water
reduces the number of germs that can get into the body or that can be passed
on to other people.
• Vaccinations and other scientific treatments protect people from getting certain
diseases, and different kinds of medicines may help those who do become sick to
recover.
(through Grade 5)
• Scientific investigations may take many different forms, including observing
what things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for
analysis, and doing experiments. Investigations can focus on physical, biological,
and social questions.
• Scientists' explanations about what happens in the world come partly from what
they observe, partly from what they think. Sometimes scientists have different
explanations for the same set of observations. That usually leads to their making
more observations to resolve the differences.
• Doing science involves many different kinds of work and engages men and
women of all ages and backgrounds.
• Some likenesses between children and parents, such as eye color in human
beings, or fruit or flower color in plants, are inherited. Other likenesses, such as
people's table manners or carpentry skills, are learned.
• For offspring to resemble their parents, there must be a reliable way to transfer
information from one generation to the next.
• Some living things consist of a single cell. Like familiar organisms, they need
food, water, and air; a way to dispose of waste; and an environment they can
live in.
• Microscopes make it possible to see that living things are made mostly of cells.
Milestone 1.2 19
 Some organisms are made of a collection of similar cells that benefit from
cooperating. Some organisms' cells vary greatly in appearance and perform very
different roles in the organism.
• For any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well,
some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
• Changes in an organism's habitat are sometimes beneficial to it and sometimes
harmful.
• Most microorganisms do not cause disease, and many are beneficial.
• Over the whole earth, organisms are growing, dying, and decaying, and new
organisms are being produced by the old ones.
• It takes about 9 months for a human embryo to develop. Embryos are nourished
by the mother, so substances she takes in will affect how well or poorly the baby
develops.
• Skin protects the body from harmful substances and other organisms and from
drying out.
• Food provides energy and materials for growth and repair of body parts.
Vitamins and minerals, present in small amounts in foods, are essential to keep
everything working well. As people grow up, the amounts and kinds of food and
exercise needed by the body may change.
• Tobacco, alcohol, other drugs, and certain poisons in the environment
(pesticides, lead) can harm human beings and other living things.
• If germs are able to get inside one's body, they may keep it from working
properly. For defense against germs, the human body has tears, saliva, skin, some
blood cells, and stomach secretions. A healthy body can fight most germs that do
get inside. However, there are some germs that interfere with the body's
defenses.
• There are some diseases that human beings can catch only once. After they've
recovered they don't get sick from them again. There are many diseases that can
be prevented by vaccination, so that people don't catch them even once.
• The damage to crops caused by rodents, weeds, and insects can be reduced by
using poisons, but their use may harm other plants or animals as well, and pests
tend to develop resistance to poisons.
(through Grade 8)
• Scientific knowledge is subject to modification as new information challenges
prevailing theories and as a new theory leads to looking at old observations in a
new way.
• Scientists differ greatly in what phenomena they study and how they go about
their work. Although there is no fixed set of steps that all scientists follow,
scientific investigations usually involve the collection of relevant evidence, the
use of logical reasoning, and the application of imagination in devising
hypotheses and explanations to make sense of the collected evidence.
• Important contributions to the advancement of science, mathematics, and
technology have been made by different kinds of people, in different cultures, at
different times.
• No matter who does science and mathematics or invents things, or when or
where they do it, the knowledge and technology that result can eventually
become available to everyone in the world.
• Scientists are employed by colleges and universities, business and industry,
hospitals, and many government agencies. Their places of work include offices,
classrooms, laboratories, farms, factories, and natural field settings ranging from

Milestone 1.2 20
 space to the ocean floor.
• All organisms, including the human species, are part of and depend on two
main interconnected global food webs. One includes microscopic ocean plants,
the animals that feed on them, and finally the animals that feed on those
animals. The other web includes land plants, the animals that feed on them, and
so forth. The cycles continue indefinitely because organisms decompose after
death to return food material to the environment.
• In some kinds of organisms, all the genes come from a single parent, whereas in
organisms that have sexes, typically half of the genes come from each parent.
• In sexual reproduction, a single specialized cell from a female merges with a
specialized cell from a male. As the fertilized egg, carrying genetic information
from each parent, multiplies to form the complete organism with about a trillion
cells, the same genetic information is copied in each cell.
• All living things are composed of cells, from just one to many millions, whose
details usually are visible only through a microscope. Different body tissues and
organs are made up of different kinds of cells. The cells in similar tissues and
organs in other animals are similar to those in human beings but differ
somewhat from cells found in plants.
• Cells repeatedly divide to make more cells for growth and repair. Various organs
and tissues function to serve the needs of cells for food, air, and waste removal.
• Within cells, many of the basic functions of organisms-such as extracting energy
from food and getting rid of waste-are carried out. The way in which cells
function is similar in all living organisms.
• In all environments-freshwater, marine, forest, desert, grassland, mountain, and
others-organisms with similar needs may compete with one another for
resources, including food, space, water, air, and shelter. In any particular
environment, the growth and survival of organisms depend on the physical
conditions.
• Two types of organisms may interact with one another in several ways: They
may be in a producer/consumer, predator/prey, or parasite/host relationship. Or
one organism may scavenge or decompose another. Relationships may be
competitive or mutually beneficial. Some species have become so adapted to
each other that neither could survive without the other.
• Small differences between parents and offspring can accumulate (through
selective breeding) in successive generations so that descendants are very
different from their ancestors.
• Individual organisms with certain traits are more likely than others to survive
and have offspring. Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival
of individual organisms and entire species.
• Technologies having to do with food production, sanitation, and disease
prevention have dramatically changed how people live and work and have
resulted in rapid increases in the human population.
• The developing embryo-and later the newborn infant-encounters many risks
from faults in its genes, its mother's inadequate diet, her cigarette smoking or
use of alcohol or other drugs, or from infection. Inadequate child care may lead
to lower physical and mental ability.
• Various body changes occur as adults age. Muscles and joints become less
flexible, bones and muscles lose mass, energy levels diminish, and the senses
become less acute. Women stop releasing eggs and hence can no longer
reproduce. The length and quality of human life are influenced by many factors,
including sanitation, diet, medical care, sex, genes, environmental conditions,
Milestone 1.2 21
 and personal health behaviors.
• Organs and organ systems are composed of cells and help to provide all cells
with basic needs.
• Specialized cells and the molecules they produce identify and destroy microbes
that get inside the body.
• Toxic substances, some dietary habits, and personal behavior may be bad for
one's health. Some effects show up right away, others may not show up for
many years. Avoiding toxic substances, such as tobacco, and changing dietary
habits to reduce the intake of such things as animal fat increases the chances of
living longer.
• Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites may infect the human body and interfere
with normal body functions. A person can catch a cold many times because there
are many varieties of cold viruses that cause similar symptoms.
• White blood cells engulf invaders or produce antibodies that attack them or
mark them for killing by other white cells. The antibodies produced will remain
and can fight off subsequent invaders of the same kind.
• The environment may contain dangerous levels of substances that are harmful
to human beings. Therefore, the good health of individuals requires monitoring
the soil, air, and water and taking steps to keep them safe.
• Sanitation measures such as the use of sewers, landfills, quarantines, and safe
food handling are important in controlling the spread of organisms that cause
disease. Improving sanitation to prevent disease has contributed more to saving
human life than any advance in medical treatment.
• Throughout history, people have created explanations for disease. Some have
held that disease has spiritual causes, but the most persistent biological theory
over the centuries was that illness resulted from an imbalance in the body fluids.
The introduction of germ theory by Louis Pasteur and others in the 19th century
led to the modern belief that many diseases are caused by microorganisms-
bacteria, viruses, yeasts, and parasites.
• Pasteur found that infection by disease organisms-germs-caused the body to
build up an immunity against subsequent infection by the same organisms. He
then demonstrated that it was possible to produce vaccines that would induce
the body to build immunity to a disease without actually causing the disease
itself.
• Changes in health practices have resulted from the acceptance of the germ
theory of disease. Before germ theory, illness was treated by appeals to
supernatural powers or by trying to adjust body fluids through induced
vomiting, bleeding, or purging. The modern approach emphasizes sanitation, the
safe handling of food and water, the pasteurization of milk, quarantine, and
aseptic surgical techniques to keep germs out of the body; vaccinations to
strengthen the body's immune system against subsequent infection by the same
kind of microorganisms; and antibiotics and other chemicals and processes to
destroy microorganisms.

Milestone 1.2 22
Appendix B
Pre-K - 4th Grade
Teacher Focus Group
Conducted July 17, 2002, by Anthony Bisulca and Topher Gee.
Summary written by Topher Gee.

Overview
As part of the effort to inform the exhibition development process through
audience evaluation, the Infection Connection Project Team decided to conduct a
focus group with teachers. Teachers were recruited from the Teacher Institute held
at Liberty Science Center during the week of July 15, 2002. Following
presentations of the expansion projects by Kevin Coffee and specific details of the
Infection Connection by Topher Gee, interested teachers were asked to sign up for
the focus group. Teachers were told that participation would qualify them for an
additional hour of continuing education credit. Though not advertised in advance,
participants were presented with appreciation gifts at the end of the focus group.
The gifts included an LSC mug, an LSC key chain, and two exhibition-floor passes.
Light refreshments were also provided during the focus group.

Underlying bias in the sample is worth noting. First, the only individuals invited to
participate in this focus group had already sought out the career enrichment
opportunity of the Teacher Institute. Second, no effort was made to organize the
group according to participant backgrounds, experience, or teaching location. The
group included one pre-kindergarten, two kindergarten, two third grade, and two
fourth grade teachers. Finally, among the seven participants, there were two pairs
of teachers who teach in the same school (two Newark grade three teachers and
pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teachers from Elizabeth).

To remind participants of the purpose of the exhibition, each person was provided
with a printed copy of the exhibition concept that stated that “individual and
collective choices determine the impact that infectious diseases have on the health
of people around the world.” The Team decided to focus the discussion using the
following questions:

a. What are you teaching about this subject now? What do your students
understand about it? What aspects of this subject do your students have
difficulty understanding?

b. What do you think are key issues for children in that age group (i.e. of your
students) related to this subject?

c. What topics or issues should be presented that are outside of your students’
current frame of reference or outside the current study plan?

d. What would constitute a valuable field trip for your classes in regard to this
subject?

The two moderators, Anthony Bisulca and Topher Gee, used these questions to
guide the discussion while allowing the participants considerable latitude in
making comments and pursuing discussion threads introduced by other
participants. The entire focus group session lasted approximately one hour. A
delay in turning the audio tape over prevented the recording of several minutes of
the conversation. The transcript (attached) denotes this gap with the phrase “SIDE
ENDS..NO OVERLAP”. Participant names have been replaced with single letter
designations.

Milestone 1.2 23
Findings
In this section, some of the direct quotes from the transcript are presented and
grouped according to commonalities. The speaker and the grade she teaches are
identified parenthetically at the end of each quote.

What is being taught

The messages that these teachers attempt to convey to their students deal with
mechanisms for preventing spread of infectious diseases. These messages,
presented to the children as the proper or socially appropriate way of doing things,
are generally divorced from any substantive explanation of infectious diseases.

...sometimes they don’t just cover the mouth when they’re sneezing, just
simple things, you know, and I try to do a lot on all those simple
etiquette or manners that cover all that stuff. And in our class this year
chicken pox did go around and I tried to use a book called Itchy, Itchy
Chicken Pox to kind of have fun with it so that kids that saw the ones
that were missing when they got it, that they would know, you know, it’s
not something to be so fearful of, you know, that you may get it but see
these children came back well again after they had it. (E., pre-
kindergarten)

I teach in kindergarten that you have to take care of yourself and always
make sure you wash your hands whenever you go to the bathroom, or
come out, you get dirty, stuff like that because you can get an infection.
If you have a cut, make sure that you let me know or let your parents
know so this way they wash it and make sure that there’s no infection
that’s deep inside of it. (S., kindergarten)

And I keep on telling the children if they have colds or they are sick, stay
at home, and to the parents too because oftentimes they send them to
school even if they are not feeling well and they throw up there... (R.,
kindergarten)

In third grade this year we, our health series includes personal health,
hygiene, how to keep your body fit in sports and things like that. (M.,
grade 3)

And I taught in my room this year about lice because at the third grade
level a lot of them are just sharing things now, the combs and the
brushes and the barrettes and everything. And it got to be like an
epidemic in my classroom, like a lot of them came down with this lice.
(V., grade 3)

Although only reflected in one of the quotes included above, the idea of
communicating that “...it’s not something to be so fearful of... (E., pre-
kindergarten)” marked several comments made about introducing these topics to
young school children. Whether tied specifically to infectious diseases or, more
generally, to relationships with medical professionals, there was an emphasis on
dispelling fear.

Presentations to fourth graders about infectious diseases were reported to happen

at a deeper level.

And at the fourth grade level we teach different infectious diseases that
children are kind of familiar with like chicken pox and measles and
mumps and how they get it and what the symptoms are and how to take
care of themselves and how we all get our vaccinations for a lot of these
Milestone 1.2 24
 diseases. And then we also touch a little bit on HIV and AIDS and we’ve
had our nurse come in, in past years and help us out. (B., grade 4)

Just as B. said, we do a big unit on communicable and non-

communicable diseases. We were fortunate this past year of having
somebody from the New Jersey Science Alliance that had a connection
with J & J come and do some hands-on experiments with the students in
terms of the importance of keeping your body healthy. (P., grade 4)

If the statements made by the teachers in this focus group accurately reflect what is
happening throughout the state, it suggests that fourth grade represents an
important break point in the spectrum of ways that infectious diseases are taught
to New Jersey students. Personal hygiene, however, appears to be a universal
theme among these presentations from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade.

What students do and do not understand

I also think the idea...there are some diseases that are viral versus
bacterial. Students seem to get a little bit frustrated with all the
technological and all the research components, why research scientists
still haven’t found or perfected more ways of having say certain
immunizations or medications that don’t have either really profound side
effects which cause other types of difficulties. ... .And of course I kind of
help to remind them that, ...as much as research is moving on, things are
changing and it’s a difficult task. That sometimes causes a little bit of
frustration. (P., grade 4)

This comment reveals that students have memorized that bacterial and
viral infections differ, but that they do not yet understand these
differences. This kind of rote learning, typical of novices, can serve as a
foundation for a more advanced treatment of the subject. It should not
be misconstrued, though, as representing a level of understanding
beyond a memorized definition. Additionally, this comment
demonstrates a need to help people understand the scientific research
process and the amount of time involved in answering scientific
questions.

The need to communicate basic information about immune system

function to both children and parents was emphasized.

I think the immune systems, it’s kind of hard to understand that you have
this immune system in you and how you can build immunities to
diseases. That’s kind of a difficult concept for them. (B., grade 4)

I think we need to educate the children and the parents about infectious
diseases and inoculations, inner city especially. We’re still finding
children, you know, that have to be excluded from school because their
shots are not up to par. (M., grade 3)

Immunity was raised both as a general concept and as a way of explaining the
purpose behind and benefits of vaccination. Given the complexity of this material,
there are clear advantages to repetition of the concepts, throughout the exhibition
and via different learning modalities.

In discussing the issues that these teachers struggle to communicate, several people
expressed frustration with and concern about the number of sick children who are
sent to school. The general sentiment seemed to be that, while some guardians
Milestone 1.2 25
 did not recognize the effect that this might have on the rest of the people in the
classroom or school, many understood the risk but lacked the means (particularly
employer support) to care for a sick child. One teacher succinctly summarized the
conclusions reached in this discussion:

So obviously we need the parents and then, to a larger extent, the

community to provide a place for the sick children. That’s also our
problem. ... We end up taking care of these kids, these sick children. (R.,
kindergarten)

This dilemma is an example that could be presented as part of the

exhibition.

When it came to identifying additional content issues that the exhibition

should emphasize, two comments addressed issues specific to the
environments within which the children live.

We can discuss also the drugs, some of our kids, they live in drug-infested
areas. (R., kindergarten)

And they need to be aware of, you know, not touching things and
picking things up. They see these things on the ground somewhere, you
don’t touch those things. The same thing with blood and....stay away
from those things. (B., grade 4)

These comments, along with other discussion threads, highlight the importance of
guiding children’s interpretations of their surroundings. When illicit drug use is
pervasive, for example, the infectious disease risks associated with it need to be
explained recognizing the implicit and explicit environmental messages that the
children receive.

In addition to specific content points that they felt should be included, the
participants gave some examples of how the points should be presented and
related to one another.

I think they really need to start off with just what is a germ? What is a
pathogen? And how does it get into your body? And what can it do on
a real simple basic level. I think that would be a good starting point
because for a little child that’s kind of a big concept. It’s something that
they can’t see, they can’t touch. (B., grade 4)

Start it from where it comes in, it comes in through your nose. And
show it go all through the blood system and what it does, the white
cells, the red cells. It would be great for little kids. (S., kindergarten)

And then maybe building on that, introduce various things like smallpox
or whatever, the different diseases, and show how you do get it and the
effects of it, what it does to the body. You know when children get a
little older, if they’ve had the beginnings, then they should be able to
begin to grasp that. (M., grade 3)

And then after that, how you can prepare your body against such germs.
(R., kindergarten)

Yes, I think not being fearful of people that obtain these germs and
what alternatives they have. I think that’s a big factor. ... (P., grade 4)

And now, you know, keeping on the current edge and thinking about,
Milestone 1.2 26
 you know, terroristic types of things that our country has gone through
which really we’re not accustomed to, I think it really would be
beneficial to focus on a little bit and make people aware. I think
awareness is the best way to go. (P., grade 4)

These recommendations identify many of the concepts that the Project Team has
already selected for inclusion in the exhibition. The teachers’ suggestions included
identifying causal agents of infectious diseases, the ways that they enter the body,
and what they do to the body both locally and systemically; presenting a number
of important infectious diseases; enumerating steps that an individual can take to
protect against infectious diseases; giving infectious diseases a human face; and
raising awareness about infectious diseases as biological weapons. Importantly, this
group of early elementary school teachers felt that all of these concepts could be
presented to young children in meaningful ways.

Beyond the students

Comments by a number of the teachers reflected concerns that they have about
the risks they face in their own classrooms.

I’ve also noticed different things I read that they say TB is on the rise.
And yet as a teacher, we used to either have to have the test or present
proof that we had a chest X-ray every so many years. That has gone by
the wayside. And I find that to myself, personally a very big concern
because we do have a big immigrant population and we’re not doing
this. You know I think we’re all at risk. So I mean that’s another health
concern, TB. ...I’m not even sure that they keep up much with the
children. That all seems to have gone by the wayside. You know we get
very complacent when we think we’ve gotten rid of something. But we
haven’t, as I say everything I read, it seems that TB is coming back and it’s
on the rise. And it’s not working, the usual kinds of medications that
they’re giving. So, you know, it’s becoming resistant. (M., grade 3)

I know years back when I was in high school and I took like a trip to
Spain that our Spanish teacher ran and I remember we had to get
inoculated then when I went on this trip. And, you know, I think about
that, now I have a lot of immigrant population in my class and I know in
March this one little girl was gone for like three weeks because she was
going to Columbia and, you know, I started to wonder about that a little
bit. (E., pre-kindergarten)

I had read somewhere that the reason they’re not inoculating for
smallpox right now is that there’s not enough of it around. They have to
rebuild their sources, there’s not enough to inoculate many. If there is
an outbreak right now, we’re in serious trouble. ... That’s what I’ve been
reading. And like you say, it’s a real problem because of the fact that
people do go in and out of the country like a revolving door. Even, you
know, people think, okay, since we’ve had 911, a lot of people aren’t,
but there’s still a lot of people going in and out of the country. And
with the going in and out, I don’t think they’re receiving all the
inoculations to go in or to come out of countries and there’s a lot of
things being brought back into this country. And children come back
into school and whatever they have, they just pass it on. So it is a, you
know, something to think about and it’s scary. (S., kindergarten)

These teachers demonstrated an awareness of their risk of exposure to infectious

diseases. Their concerns were explicitly linked to the number of students who
immigrated recently or travel internationally. They also questioned the adequacy
Milestone 1.2 27
 of existing public health policies and practices.

Though not specifically a classroom concern, there was a related issue raised.

You know we used to vaccinate against smallpox and we stopped that

somewhere, let me see, we stopped around ‘69 or ‘70. And I’ve been
reading and hearing things where they’d like to think about doing that
again but there’s still a health risk for doing it. So, you know, that’s
going to be something else that’s going to be coming very soon, a big
problem, worrying about smallpox vaccine. (M., grade 3)

Whether linked to the classroom or not, these last four quotes reflect
considerable awareness of current events. This suggests that, given
appropriate tools, these teachers could connect concepts presented in
the exhibition to what is happening in the world around them. Based on
this one focus group, it is not reasonable to conclude that all teachers
who might visit the exhibition would be as well versed.
The participants felt strongly that addressing adult caregivers as well as
children through the exhibition would be helpful.

...And maybe even having some kind of a component or an extension

where you can have a parental informational feedback. You can’t say a
forum because we work and have five jobs but there has to be some
kind of an extension to the parents. I think the parent link nowadays is
really kind of a default. There has to be another way of reaching out
and really making them more knowledgeable. So maybe it could be via
Liberty Science Center having a web site on something that really is very
enticing and gets their attention, some kind of literature they can take
off with them, some kind of a listing, but something that makes a
connective link. Because what a lot of people either are in denial that
they’ve obtained some of these germs and they think by keeping in
denial and not doing anything about it, it will just vanish and go away.
And I think you have to have a realistic approach and a take-charge
attitude and do something that is safe and humane and responsible for
all adults. I think that might be a way of making a connection to it. (P.,
grade 4)

And I think the parents need to be educated. Some of these parents,

you’ve got these young parents out here. These parents had these kids
when they were 16 or 17 years old. And they don’t raise these children.
And so they don’t care, they didn’t get it. It’s not going to bother them.
... But I think in some of my situations in this classroom, they are aware
of it but you see, they still have partying on their mind because mommy
is there to take over, grandma. (V., grade 3)

Maybe, you know, we do Newark Night for example. And it’s mostly
adults although we do get some children but that may be an
opportunity, something like that may be an opportunity to bring parents
in and be able to present something like this whether it’s speakers or
audiovisual aids, you know, and displays. I think that might work
because I know our parents were just thrilled, you know, with Newark
Night. They would come back for probably anything, they really would.
(M., grade 3)

...I think some parents are, they stand back a little bit when it’s a subject
they’re not too familiar with. They’re a little scared of it, afraid of it.
But if it’s presented with their children, they really, they’re interested
then and they feel that, oh, this won’t be too hard and I can understand
Milestone 1.2 28
 it and they’ll get more out of it that way. And I know even when I
approach a new subject in school, sometimes I’ll go to the library and get
the children’s books out and read about it because I get a lot more out
of it that way. So I think it would be less intimidating for them and they
would enjoy it. (B., grade 4)

I think that also to add to that, project making. You use these as
adjuncts and then you have the project or homework because in my
particular school, even though they are only kindergarten, the parents
are very concerned with homework. They ask for it. They demand it. (R.,
kindergarten)

...I think it should not be too difficult, more like on a child level but
maybe a little bit above a child, but not adult level, “our level”, because
these parents coming in don’t have a high education. Even with our
homework, they can’t do our homework and that’s third grade. So I
think you need to take that into consideration. That would kind of like
bring them in a little bit more knowing they can master it too. ... (V.,
grade 3)

Attempting to reach both adults and children would do more than just help the
children learn by involving adults in the process. It would also offer a way to
educate the adults. The teachers felt that this would enable them to be better
caregivers to the children in their lives.

A related issue was the difficulty that these teachers routinely encounter in
communicating with guardians for whom English is a second language.

We have a large immigrant population and a very large ESL program in

our school. We find that, too, that between the problem with the
language, not understanding the language and not getting all the
immunizations and then working parents, it just snowballs. So we
probably need to do a better community job of advertising this to the
parents. (B., grade 4)

The teachers felt that offering exhibits and programming in more than one
language was crucial.

... whatever you choose to do, I think it should be like a bilingual thing,
okay, because a lot of our students, 95 percent are Spanish-speaking, and
the parents come and they really don’t understand what’s going on.
They just smile and say, oh, yes, yes, because they don’t want you to
know they don’t know what’s going on. ... I don’t know how you’re
going to do it but...French, Spanish, I don’t know how you’re going to do
it, but it’s just, I know when we have our Newark Night, people do not
understand, because I was in charge of it, it’s very, very difficult and I had
to have somebody with me, you know, next to me to explain to the
parents, we’re going to go here, you do this, and they’re okay, okay.
Then they kind of like understand. But if they’re all by themselves, they
just scatter. And they go to this booth here, and if their child doesn’t tell
them what’s going on, they have no idea what’s going on. There’s
nothing for them. (V., grade 3)

Some of them won’t even come out because they’re afraid they won’t
understand. (S., kindergarten)

When participants were told of the intention to produce the exhibition in both
English and Spanish, they praised the plan. They then questioned the selection of
Milestone 1.2 29
 Spanish as the second language and warned that the use of one, non-English
language would lead to calls for others. Even among this small group, some felt
that English and Spanish would not adequately serve the communities in which
they work.

Field trips

Most of the comments offered in response to a question about how field trips can
be made more valuable addressed the presentation format.

Again as much as you can make hands-on or visual, things they can listen
to, you know, those are the most popular things I think. (B., grade 4)

I agree with you. I think the more visual or, you know, auditory they
have as opposed to reading because even when English is your second
language, you understand more than you can read, so, you know, I think
that that would be a big help for the children and the adults. (M., grade
3)

The more I find that children have an opportunity for hands-on, the
better they have an understanding and it has more merit to them and
they care more about it. (P., grade 4)

...I think right now the kids need that. They need something that they
can hold and say I did this. (V., grade 3)

A range of reasons was offered to support these calls for activities that do not rely
on reading and, preferably, are hands-on. These included the standard arguments
that such exhibits are more popular and that they are also more understandable.
The point was also made that moving away from communicating through text
allows nonnative speakers a fuller experience. Obviously, the same argument
applies to all illiterate people. The most profound reason for advocating hands-on
exhibits is the belief that children, particularly the children of today, need the sense
of accomplishment that accompanies that kind of activity.

Quite reasonably, another participant emphasized the benefit of being provided

with classroom-based activities that enable a teacher to provide a context for the
field trip.

I think it’s really nice to have some post-activities after...pre- and post, if
you have some things for the teachers to do either before or afterwards,
it kind of ties it up and makes it meaningful. (B., grade 4)

Additional comments

The participants responded quite favorably when one of the moderators asked for
ideas about accessing resources without traveling to Liberty Science Center.

Even a web site where kids could ask some questions and there’s some
way to get the answer back. (S., kindergarten)

Maybe if you had a Liberty Science lending library. (P., grade 4)

There was considerable enthusiasm for this idea of a library-like arrangement that
would allow access to science experiment kits or tabletop exhibits. This idea is
worth considering in light of the Science Center’s potential closure during
expansion construction.

Milestone 1.2 30
 One participant raised a question about the advisory board.

...on your panel or your resource people out there, have you thought
about having any type of pediatricians serving on the panel? (E., pre-
kindergarten)

She felt that pediatricians have knowledge of the infectious disease risks that
children face and have considerable experience in communicating with children
and their parents. Whether a pediatrician is included on the advisory board or not,
consulting with pediatricians and pediatric nurses might be valuable during the
exhibition development process.

Potential resource leads

Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox is a book that was used at the pre-kindergarten level. It
would be worth exploring what children’s books exist for different age levels.
These could be valuable both for developing the exhibition and as potential
material that could be included in the proposed resource center.

A specific film was referred to by one of the teachers.

We have a film, I don’t know where, I think it came from the Wave and
it’s all about germs and it’s done in kind of a comic strip style. And kids
love it and I think it really puts across the idea of how germs are spread
from like the doorknob and how it gets on you and just, and touching
people’s hair, they always want to touch people’s hair and stroke long
girl’s hair. And they don’t realize all the germs that they’re getting, that
they’re carrying around. Some are good, some are bad germs but it
shows especially the bad ones and how just washing your hands can
really get rid of them. (B., grade 4)

I believe “the Wave” refers to a company called Health Promotion Wave. They
offer curriculum materials and the fourth grade kit
([Link]/Grade4_list.html) includes a video entitled
“Communicable Diseases”.

Existing groups work to introduce into classrooms some of the concepts that we
have identified for inclusion in the exhibition.

We had that when we had that DARE program, they are still a little bit
afraid of the needles.... (R., kindergarten)

It would be interesting to understand how other programs already being presented

in schools deliver messages that overlap with the theme of the Infection
Connection. Exploring these areas of overlap might lead to collaborations with
existing programs and would identify opportunities for reinforcing concepts.

The New Jersey Science Alliance is another such group.

We were fortunate this past year of having somebody from the New
Jersey Science Alliance that had a connection with J & J come and do
some hands-on experiments with the students in terms of the importance
of keeping your body healthy. (P., grade 4)

The New Jersey Science Alliance began in 1991 and was funded by NSF from 1991-
1998. The program pairs a scientist or engineer from a New Jersey company with a
teacher for one year. Together they generated a teaching module that
communicates science concepts while connecting them to the real world. At its
Milestone 1.2 31
 height, the Alliance covered Somerset, Hunterdon, Morris, Union, Middlesex, and
Mercer counties. It currently serves only Somerset and Hunterdon counties.
The organizers are in the process of trying to launch the program again using
private funding. They have a catalog of 300 modules available to teachers and
they are working to put 12 of the 100 best modules on the web to allow teachers
easy access. In the immediate future, they plan to attend teacher conventions to
enlist people to create and update modules.

Transcript

Topher Gee, Moderator: Thank you all for volunteering your time to do this.
Again, the purpose today is to get some feedback on some of the ideas and things
we’re thinking about doing with this project. We are going to record it so that we
can have a transcript and the rest of the members of the team can actually
participate in digesting and thinking about all of the ideas and comments you all
have made. We do have a team now with ten people on it that are working on
this. Anthony and I are both members of that team. But your feedback will reach
more than just our ears. I would ask, though, that you, as much as possible as you
make comments, that you speak out so that we get what you say recorded. And if
you would just identify yourself as you start to speak. That would also help in
terms of the transcriptionist being able to track who said what so that, it would be
ridiculous if somebody keeps mentioning it’s important to include broccoli in the
exhibition. We know that, that was one person rather than each one of you saying
it is meaningful. So I’d like to start with just going around and asking everybody
to identify yourself, your first name and what grade level you are teaching. And I
think before you start, I’ll reposition microphones just a little bit. Looking from
that end of the table I think we can get a better balance here. Okay, so Anthony
and I will be facilitators but largely we’re looking for a discussion amongst you. So
I’ll just start, again remind you that my name is Topher. I’m the exhibition
developer.

I’m B.. I teach grade four in Hackettstown.

I’m P.. I teach grade four in Mountainside.

I’m M.. I teach grade three in Newark.

I’m V.. I teach grade three in Newark.

R. from Jersey City Community Charter School, Jersey City.

I’m E.. I teach pre-K in Elizabeth.

I’m S.. I teach kindergarten in Elizabeth.

Anthony Bisulca, Moderator: I’m Anthony. I manage teacher programs for Liberty
Science.

Topher: And in front of you, I’ve put a copy of the exhibition concept. This is just
for your reference. As we go along if you want to remind yourself of what this
umbrella statement is for this exhibition. For the benefit of the transcript, I’m
going to read it. It’s, the individual and collective choices determine the impact
that infectious diseases have on the health of people around the world. So with
that umbrella statement in mind, the first question I’d like you all to address is
what are you teaching about this subject now in your classes?

S.: I’m S. and I teach in kindergarten that you have to take care of yourself and
always make sure you wash your hands whenever you go to the bathroom, or
Milestone 1.2 32
 come out, you get dirty, stuff like that because you can get an infection. If you
have a cut, make sure that you let me know or let your parents know so this way
they wash it and make sure that there’s no infection that’s deep inside of it.

B.: I’m B.. And at the fourth grade level we teach different infectious diseases
that children are kind of familiar with like chicken pox and measles and mumps
and how they get it and what the symptoms are and how to take care of
themselves and how we all get our vaccinations for a lot of these diseases. And
then we also touch a little bit on HIV and AIDS and we’ve had our nurse come in,
in past years and help us out.

V.: I’m V.. And I taught in my room this year about lice because at the third grade
level a lot of them are just sharing things now, the combs and the brushes and the
barrettes and everything. And it got to be like an epidemic in my classroom, like a
lot of them came down with this lice. So we learned that we had to keep our own
stuff and no sharing. That was very hard for them.

R.: I’m R.. I teach kindergarten. And I keep on telling the children if they have
colds or they are sick, stay at home, and to the parents too because oftentimes
they send them to school even if they are not feeling well and they throw up there
and...

E.: I’m E., at the pre-K level, and I know just like R. just said, you know, sometimes
they don’t just cover the mouth when they’re sneezing, just simple things, you
know, and I try to do a lot on all those simple etiquette or manners that cover all
that stuff. And in our class this year chicken pox did go around and I tried to use a
book called Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox to kind of have fun with it so that kids that
saw the ones that were missing when they got it, that they would know, you know,
it’s not something to be so fearful of, you know, that you may get it but see these
children came back well again after they had it.

M.: I’m M.. In third grade this year we, our health series includes personal health,
hygiene, how to keep your body fit in sports and things like that. And the
children, basically our children, the only exercise they really get is in school in gym
which they get twice a week and running in the playground at lunch time because
at home, they go straight home and they stay in.

P.: I’m P., fourth grade. Just as B. said, we do a big unit on communicable and
non-communicable diseases. We were fortunate this past year of having somebody
from the New Jersey Science Alliance that had a connection with J & J come and do
some hands-on experiments with the students in terms of the importance of
keeping your body healthy. And I think basically it had a really good impact. The
more I find that children have an opportunity for hands-on, the better they have
an understanding and it has more merit to them and they care more about it.

I’m thinking also this year, our gym teacher had something, I guess it was maybe in
January or February where the Heart Association did something, Shoot Hoops for
Heart, and what was the other one? One week was shoot hoops and the other
was jumping rope or something to make them, you know, aware of being healthy
or having exercise...

M.: We also have the School of Dentistry, they send around and they do checks of
the teeth and then our children are taken down there by some kind of school bus
transportation to have their teeth taken care of because we found that was a big
problem, dental health.

S.: Also with our schools too, in the kindergarten, pre-K, in all classes we have,
like you said, somebody come in and check their teeth and check them out from
Milestone 1.2 33
 head to toe and let them know not to be afraid of the doctor, that they’re there to
help them. And just, you know, most times children go to doctors and it’s usually
because they’re sick or they’re going for a special shot but this was a checkup just
to see if they were healthy and not to be afraid, you know, whether it be for their
teeth that they’re going to look at or whether it be, you know, check their whole
body out, you know, not to be afraid to go.

P.: Also this year after the 911 we were able to get someone from the St. Barnabas
Hospital, the burn unit, come with sort of a simulated, sort of a simulated trailer
home situation but what it triggered, a lot of the students in our area had parents
that worked there and the idea of fire and how much injury can come from that
smoke in itself. A lot of students really never had encountered anything of that
difficulty and never really truly understood the difference really between first,
second, and third degree burns per se or anything like that. And this unit was
quite good because it really gave them insight not only to what they could
encounter in a home environment but also having a plan of action so that, a way
out for you and your members, some kind of a way of keeping you safe that way
as well. And I just thought it was a really good experience.

R.: I also want to pick up, we already have the ______ of children, the body
healthy. In my class I use the pyramid, food pyramid and also distinguishing which
is junk food and which is healthy food.

B.: We have a film, I don’t know where, I think it came from the Wave and it’s all
about germs and it’s done in kind of a comic strip style. And kids love it and I think
it really puts across the idea of how germs are spread from like the doorknob and
how it gets on you and just, and touching people’s hair, they always want to touch
people’s hair and stroke long girl’s hair. And they don’t realize all the germs that
they’re getting, that they’re carrying around. Some are good, some are bad germs
but it shows especially the bad ones and how just washing your hands can really
get rid of them.

Topher: When P. mentioned the burn unit, you said that it was a level of difficulty
that the kids were not necessarily particularly...

P.: Right. I teach in an area where we don’t have a paid fire department, we
have a volunteer fire department. And about three years ago there was a really
severe house fire that basically resulted in one of the members of the family not
making it out and the others being severely burned and hospitalized for more than
a period of a year’s time. Because it’s a small community, the students were aware
of it but at the same time many of them are not, have never really encountered
being a victim or part of a fire. We have local, you know, fire drills, twice a month
in the school setting but it’s a little different. And through this house trailer, even
the doors that simulated like a kitchen door, a bedroom door, they could actually
feel the heat penetrating. They spoke about blocking off, it’s the smoke that really
is more deadly, and what your skin really goes through if you are burned and why
it’s one of the most difficult things to deal with. You know people have sort of
misconceptions about it and it really didn’t intimidate the kids. My class this year, I
was hoping that, you know, they would start it earlier in the year just to make
them aware. And basically the funding is not that expensive, if you save the flip
tops from soda cans, that’s what kind of keeps the van funded. They will go
anywhere in the state of New Jersey, you don’t have to be in Essex County where
the hospital is housed. They’re very willing to give to any grade level. We’ll gear it
down. Have an away or a plan out. I mean some of my students have very, very
small homes, the homes are like what we would consider to be a shore cottage. So
many of them really never thought about two ways out, having a backup plan,
which basically unfortunately was part of the reason why there were some victims
in this really severe house fire. But the people that ran it, there was a nurse
Milestone 1.2 34
 involved and one of the local doctors involved and then of course some local
firefighters that really manned this van and the students, it was great because
everyone had an active role, you know, they took on being part of a family, having
a way out. They even, in one situation, sort of role-played one child not being
accounted for, you know, what would you do. And, you know, the idea of not
going back in, that’s not the best thing to do. That’s not going to help the person.
They talked about making connections and keeping yourself safe, what you can do
if you are injured and you’re one of the members out and how you can keep
yourself in good condition, the idea of staying calm and, you know, sort of keeping
your senses a little bit. Sometimes people kind of unfortunately get very excited
and very uptight about it. It was just, it was really an excellent experience for the
students. I have never in all my years of teaching seen something as good and as
informative as that. And I liked it because the levelization was, it’s really kind of a
wide span. Even students in our middle school, when they kind of intensified it a
little bit, they were even very impressed and actively involved. And I just think it’s
something that, I know everybody is under a cost factor and I realize that, but it
would be nice to have something that would really be very beneficial to a wide
scope of students. Personally some of the exhibits here at Liberty Science Center I
really like the designs because it does encompass a large grouping or large
levelization of youth that comes through the center, not only the teacher
component or the adult component and I’m sure they’re probably the most costly,
you know, exhibits to keep going. And I realize cost is a factor but it would be
wonderful, I mean this is just one way of keeping our bodies healthy. And I think
that it’s an important one. I really do. And now, you know, keeping on the
current edge and thinking about, you know, terroristic types of things that our
country has gone through which really we’re not accustomed to, I think it really
would be beneficial to focus on a little bit and make people aware. I think
awareness is the best way to go.

Topher: This is Topher again. I see lots of people taking notes as you were
mentioning this program. The broader question would be specifically looking at
the infectious diseases and the things that you all have presented already to your
students, what are the things that they have difficulty understanding and
grasping? And what are those things that seem to either be easier for them to
understand or you find that when you present it to them, they already have an
awareness of it?

B.: I think the immune systems, it’s kind of hard to understand that you have this
immune system in you and how you can build immunities to diseases. That’s kind
of a difficult concept for them.

P.: I also think the idea...there are some diseases that are viral versus bacterial.
Students seem to get a little bit frustrated with all the technological and all the
research components, why research scientists still haven’t found or perfected more
ways of having say certain immunizations or medications that don’t have either
really profound side effects which cause other types of difficulties. I guess one of
the things, like cholesterol medicines or heart medications or kidney medications,
they realize that, you know, it will have an impact on say, you know, the next
organ or another one. They can’t understand why it can’t be encompassed a little
more or why one, you know, is a little bit more challenging than another one. And
of course I kind of help to remind them that, you know, as the days go on and
things are going on, there’s more and more illnesses and diseases that are new and
are out there that wouldn’t have been out there before. You know as much as
research is moving on, things are changing and it’s a difficult task. That sometimes
causes a little bit of frustration. You know I think they’re not looking for, you
know, a sure fix, but they just don’t understand if you take, it’s almost like
dabbling, you know, making a choice for students sometimes is difficult and they
say, you know, if I choose this, you know, is it really to my benefit. I say, well, now
Milestone 1.2 35
 I have two problems when I only had one. And that’s kind of the difficult
situations.

M.: I think we need to educate the children and the parents about infectious
diseases and inoculations, inner city especially. We’re still finding children, you
know, that have to be excluded from school because their shots are not up to par.
And I know I had personal experience myself when my oldest one was in first
grade, he had, had all his shots including measles and mumps and all that and he
came, and he was born at the end of ‘71 so he came down with mumps on one
side. And I mean I was hysterical because I thought I had this child vaccinated
against this, how could this be? And it was because it was children born the year
after where it was a requirement for school so many of the children that had been
in his class had never had the vaccine and he was, somehow because so many of
them were coming down with it, even though he was vaccinated against mumps,
he still got it. So, you know, there are still these things around. And people are
still not getting the things that the children are supposed to have, the shots when
they come to school or keeping up with them. I mean we’re willing to do it in
school many times, you know, we have certain things they do, the Tine test and
things, but other vaccines they’re supposed to do and we’re finding they’re still
not, you know, up to where they should be with their vaccines.

Anthony: This is Anthony. I think M. raised an interesting point. And I know

internally we’ve been talking a little bit about understanding how infectious
disease affects you as an individual as opposed to a collective group of people
whether it be your school, your community, your country. I mean what do you
think is your sense of the student’s understanding of how individual things perhaps
play into the more larger health issues, you know, how, for example, covering your
mouth, you just cover it because it’s the polite thing to do or do they really
understand that? You know there’s a broader ramification to why people cover
their mouth when they sneeze or cough.

M.: I think it’s kind of difficult for children to really get the whole concept. That’s
why I think as they go on through school we keep reinforcing and building on it so
that they do. I mean you start in kindergarten or pre-K and as it goes on, by third
grade, we would hope that they knew that but most of them don’t cover their face
when they sneeze or cough. And they do come to school sick.

E.: This is E., pre-K. I think a lot of them with more working, both working
parents or whatever, they still send them in when they’re really ill sometimes
because they are going to work, you know, regardless and that’s where, you know,
you worry about what’s being spread or maybe a bad cold or a flu is going around
the whole room for like months, the winter or whatever unnecessarily in some
ways but what can you do.

S.: Along with what E. said, I had some children come into school and the parents
said, well, I have no place to leave my child and I have to go to work. I need this
income. And I can’t take off because I will not get paid so I have to send him in.
And the child had a fever, you know, I had a couple of children with fevers. You
just can’t leave the child here. And explain to them that because it was rampant at
one part in the school, in my class, where so many children were coming down,
getting sick, and I had one child who ended up in the hospital because of all the
infections that were going around. And we were just getting him back on track
when this other child came in and I had to make this parent understand, yes, I
understand your circumstance, but you’re endangering other children’s health here
with whatever this child with the fever has. It’s a live infection that you’re bringing
back into the room. So sometimes the parents do understand but they send them
in. Sometimes the children don’t understand the concept of, especially in
kindergarten, of covering your mouth so that the other children aren’t going to
Milestone 1.2 36
 get it. Try to discuss, when you sneeze, it just doesn’t go here, it goes all over. And
we try and draw stuff, like all these germs are coming out and they’re going all
over the place. So if you don’t cover your mouth, they’re going to get everybody.
And they think it’s kind of fun that you’re doing this, that they’re making all these
little gremlin germs but you’re also hoping you’re getting the point so that this
way they don’t spread their germs. And you have to constantly keep reminding
them, wash your hands, cover your mouth.

R.: So obviously we need the parents and then, to a larger extent, the community
to provide a place for the sick children. That’s also our problem.

It’s a problem, yes.

R.: We end up taking care of these kids, these sick children.

B.: We have a large immigrant population and a very large ESL program in our
school. We find that, too, that between the problem with the language, not
understanding the language and not getting all the immunizations and then
working parents, it just snowballs. So we probably need to do a better community
job of advertising this to the parents.

Topher: So a couple of things that have been mentioned here are vaccinations
and also the awareness of some sense of community. What are some of the other
issues that you think are particularly important for the children that you work with
to start to understand and be exposed to it?

R.: We can discuss also the drugs, some of our kids, they live in drug-infested
areas. It’s also a problem.

Topher: Is there any discussion about some of the issues with infectious disease
around drugs? Because there certainly are examples, for example, sharing needles
is one.......many diseases. So is that approached at all in your classrooms or in your
schools?

R.: We had that when we had that DARE program, they are still a little bit afraid
of the needles....

In the younger grades they are.

R.: I think the nurse bribes them with goodies.

B.: And they need to be aware of, you know, not touching things and picking
things up. They see these things on the ground somewhere, you don’t touch those
things. The same thing with blood and....stay away from those things.

V.: We do the DARE program at our school too and in my classroom we also touch
on the Lyme Disease too because I had a couple of my children with that. And it’s
a touchy...just like washing because sometimes they start to stink after a certain
age, you know, and they don’t want, you can’t tell them anything....so it’s a little
touchy. So you kind of like talk about AIDS and you talk about the needles and
you talk, and you kind of get into what you want to get into. And then they’re
comfortable. They won’t go home and say, guess what she said I had. But I kind of
like, with some children, you know, they can’t remember all the time or they’re
very short....because a lot of my kids take medication too. This is because maybe
somebody ate something they shouldn’t have eaten or somebody saw somebody
doing something with a needle and they decided they were going to do it, or
monkey see, monkey do situation. And they’re kind of like, oh, yes, then they
open their mouth and start talking. Well, if my so-so can do it, then I can do it.
Milestone 1.2 37
 Oh, yes, well, I saw this, it’s no big deal. Then you start, then you hear the whole
family, like four or five kids have the same disease. Why? You didn’t touch each
other but they sat there and ate the paint. And it was okay. And I think the
parents need to be educated. Some of these parents, you’ve got these young
parents out here. These parents had these kids when they were 16 or 17 years old.
And they don’t raise these children. And so they don’t care, they didn’t get it. It’s
not going to bother them.

Or maybe they’re not aware....

V.: I can see that too. But I think in some of my situations in this classroom, they
are aware of it but you see, they still have partying on their mind because mommy
is there to take over, grandma. Then when grandma gets to a certain age, she
can’t do it anymore, then it forces it on the real mommy who has had no, can’t
deal with it. And the mother can’t deal with this child because she hasn’t been
forced to deal with it or accept the responsibility of getting the child vaccinated.
Take that responsibility. That is your child. You must get this child vaccinated or it
cannot go to school, you go to court. You know, it’s okay, we’ll just give custody to
grandma then, so what? They can’t touch me then. You know, and it’s sad
because then who is suffering? The little kid who has every disease or can’t learn
because school will not take him in. And then, nobody wants me, grandma is sick
of me, mommy can’t be bothered with me so we go around and around and
around and here this kid is stuck in the middle just spinning, you know, on
medication next week.

M.: That’s another big problem we seem to have is lead poisoning. I mean it’s not
infectious but it’s still a big health concern in the schools, a big problem for
learning. And I’ve also noticed different things I read that they say TB is on the
rise. And yet as a teacher, we used to either have to have the test or present proof
that we had a chest X-ray every so many years. That has gone by the wayside. And
I find that to myself, personally a very big concern because we do have a big
immigrant population and we’re not doing this. You know I think we’re all at risk.
So I mean that’s another health concern, TB.

Topher: M., when you’re talking about the proof for the TB test or the chest X-
ray, was that specifically for the teachers or for everybody?

M.: Yes, the teachers. We had, we don’t even have to do that anymore and I’m
not even sure that they keep up much with the children. That all seems to have
gone by the wayside. You know we get very complacent when we think we’ve
gotten rid of something. But we haven’t, as I say everything I read, it seems that
TB is coming back and it’s on the rise. And it’s not working, the usual kinds of
medications that they’re giving. So, you know, it’s becoming resistant.

We’ve let up.

M.: Yes, we’ve just become complacent.

E.: I know years back when I was in high school and I took like a trip to Spain
that our Spanish teacher ran and I remember we had to get inoculated then when I
went on this trip. And, you know, I think about that, now I have a lot of
immigrant population in my class and I know in March this one little girl was gone
for like three weeks because she was going to Columbia and, you know, I started
to wonder about that a little bit. You know, I guess we don’t have a big
inoculation, if they had to get inoculated when they still go or they come back and
maybe they tried to bring any plants or things in their luggage and that might be,
you know, a cause for spreading things that...you know, like you wonder.

Milestone 1.2 38
 M.: You know we used to vaccinate against smallpox and we stopped that
somewhere, let me see, we stopped around ‘69 or ‘70. And I’ve been reading and
hearing things where they’d like to think about doing that again but there’s still a
health risk for doing it. So, you know, that’s going to be something else that’s
going to be coming very soon, a big problem, worrying about smallpox vaccine.

S.: I had read somewhere that the reason they’re not inoculating for smallpox
right now is that there’s not enough of it around. They have to rebuild their
sources, there’s not enough to inoculate many. If there is an outbreak right now,
we’re in serious trouble.

Well, anyone born after ‘69 or ‘70 has never been vaccinated.

S.: I know. I know. And they’re saying that they never kept it up. They have a
small quantity or sufficient quantity but I don’t think if there’s a major outbreak
that there’s sufficient quantity on hand. That’s what I’ve been reading. And like
you say, it’s a real problem because of the fact that people do go in and out of the
country like a revolving door. Even, you know, people think, okay, since we’ve had
911, a lot of people aren’t, but there’s still a lot of people going in and out of the
country. And with the going in and out, I don’t think they’re receiving all the
inoculations to go in or to come out of countries and there’s a lot of things being
brought back into this country. And children come back into school and whatever
they have, they just pass it on. So it is a, you know, something to think about and
it’s scary.

Topher: Okay, so considering this exhibition concept that you have before you,
what are some of the things that would be, that you could imagine us including
under this umbrella that aren’t already included in what the children you’re
teaching are exposed to? What do you think, outside of what the kids are exposed
to, would be good for us to introduce and to present?

B.: I think they really need to start off with just what is a germ? What is a
pathogen? And how does it get into your body? And what can it do on a real
simple basic level. I think that would be a good starting point because for a little
child that’s kind of a big concept. It’s something that they can’t see, they can’t
touch.

S.: I was looking at here, at one of your, you were showing the nose and what’s
going on in the nose and I think that we’re just talking about allergens and mold
and all this stuff, and that would be a great way to start it. Start it from where it
comes in, it comes in through your nose. And show it go all through the blood
system and what it does, the white cells, the red cells. It would be great for little
kids.

M.: And then maybe building on that, introduce various things like smallpox or
whatever, the different diseases, and show how you do get it and the effects of it,
what it does to the body. You know when children get a little older, if they’ve had
the beginnings, then they should be able to begin to grasp that.

R.: And then after that, how you can prepare your body against such germs.

M.: Right. Inoculations.

P.: Yes, I think not being fearful of people that obtain these germs and what
alternatives they have. I think that’s a big factor. And maybe even having some
kind of a component or an extension where you can have a parental informational
feedback. You can’t say a forum because we work and have five jobs but there has
to be some kind of an extension to the parents. I think the parent link nowadays is
Milestone 1.2 39
 really kind of a default. There has to be another way of reaching out and really
making them more knowledgeable. So maybe it could be via Liberty Science
Center having a web site on something that really is very enticing and gets their
attention, some kind of literature they can take off with them, some kind of a
listing, but something that makes a connective link. Because what a lot of people
either are in denial that they’ve obtained some of these germs and they think by
keeping in denial and not doing anything about it, it will just vanish and go away.
And I think you have to have a realistic approach and a take-charge attitude and
do something that is safe and humane and responsible for all adults. I think that
might be a way of making a connection to it.

Topher: This idea of parental aspect has come up a number of times in terms of
educating parents in addition to educating the children who come here. What are
your thoughts in terms of dealing with parents separately from children versus
dealing with parents and children simultaneously and trying to educate them? Are
you imagining that there’s a need to specifically address adults or is it more to help
the adults understand where their children are and what their children are
learning?

I think it’s both.

M.: Maybe, you know, we do Newark Night for example. And it’s mostly adults
although we do get some children but that may be an opportunity, something like
that may be an opportunity to bring parents in and be able to present something
like this whether it’s speakers or audiovisual aids, you know, and displays. I think
that might work because I know our parents were just thrilled, you know, with
Newark Night. They would come back for probably anything, they really would.

B.: I think you’re right when you say both because I think some parents are, they
stand back a little bit when it’s a subject they’re not too familiar with. They’re a
little scared of it, afraid of it. But if it’s presented with their children, they really,
they’re interested then and they feel that, oh, this won’t be too hard and I can
understand it and they’ll get more out of it that way. And I know even when I
approach a new subject in school, sometimes I’ll go to the library and get the
children’s books out and read about it because I get a lot more out of it that way.
So I think it would be less intimidating for them and they would enjoy it.

R.: I think that also to add to that, project making. You use these as adjuncts and
then you have the project or homework because in my particular school, even
though they are only kindergarten, the parents are very concerned with
homework. They ask for it. They demand it. But you call them for a meeting,
because we have a series of parenting sessions, parent session, , in my class of 22
kids, I have about five parents who come in, six. So they miss. But when it comes
to homework, they are very concerned. So you got 95 percent of that. So at least
being here now, I’m thinking, oh, I should be more concerned with dieting.
Topher: It’s beneficial for all of us.

R.: I am thinking, yes, why not.

V.: I was just thinking, when she said that, that I think that some, whatever you
choose to do, I think it should be like a bilingual thing, okay, because a lot of our
students, 95 percent are Spanish-speaking, and the parents come and they really
don’t understand what’s going on. They just smile and say, oh, yes, yes, because
they don’t want you to know they don’t know what’s going on. And the other
thing, I think it should not be too difficult, more like on a child level but maybe a
little bit above a child, but not adult level, “our level”, because these parents
coming in don’t have a high education. Even with our homework, they can’t do
our homework and that’s third grade. So I think you need to take that into
consideration. That would kind of like bring them in a little bit more knowing
Milestone 1.2 40
 they can master it too. And then again it explains them in, I don’t know how
you’re going to do it but...French, Spanish, I don’t know how you’re going to do it,
but it’s just, I know when we have our Newark Night, people do not understand,
because I was in charge of it, it’s very, very difficult and I had to have somebody
with me, you know, next to me to explain to the parents, we’re going to go here,
you do this, and they’re okay, okay. Then they kind of like understand. But if
they’re all by themselves, they just scatter. And they go to this booth here, and if
their child doesn’t tell them what’s going on, they have no idea what’s going on.
There’s nothing for them.

S.: Some of them won’t even come out because they’re afraid they won’t
understand.

M.: Oh no, we’ve gotten, ours came through. We filled the bus.

V.: That’s the only thing, I think you need to have, I’m not saying that everything
should go into bilingual but maybe just on certain nights or something, if you
know that community...

M.: If they’re bilingual, yes, they need...

E.: I agree with that because I know I had a number of bilingual children this year
and I would grab one of the mothers that was both, like she was Hispanic but she
spoke very good English and understood and I would ask her, like when I had my
Open House Night in September or whatever, and I would ask her, like I could look
at this one parent group and I could feel they are not getting what I’m talking
about. And I said to her, I said, oh, will you just tell Tommy’s parents like what I’m
talking about. And he did one of these nods of his head like, you know, oh, no,
we get it. And you could tell that he did not understand but there’s such a pride
that you don’t want to admit to it, you know, and I had this little boy, the last day
that we had our like promotion ceremony, he came to school late and had to walk
up on the stage late, and I had sent all these flyers out when our program was and
I just felt so bad, you know, because he wasn’t dressed up. Everybody else was
dressed up all fancy for their promotion ceremony. And I said, you know, all year I
tried to like get this mother, I’d call and say make sure... and so you know you try
your best or whatever to make sure they’re going to be abreast of it but there’s
just a tremendous pride about admitting. So when you’re saying it has to be
bilingual or some simplified way it’s presented because they just don’t want to
admit, if it’s not in their native language or simplified, they shy away. Even when I
held meetings like to put together our whole promotion ceremony, they were
buying little things for the kids, little souvenirs, how they were going to set the
table when they came down off the stage or whatever and have refreshments with
their little fellow graduates, I got like just a handful of mothers that came to this
little morning meeting while my aid was watching the class and, you know, we ran
this little early morning, because they’re working parents, we either did a really
early morning little meeting for a half hour while she had the kids and, you know,
it’s, but yet they’ll talk to each other by the fence where we’re dismissed about
whatever is going on but, you know, you try your best but it’s hard sometimes, you
know, how to reach out to them and be helpful.

Topher: To let you know, our intention with this exhibition is do it in both English
and Spanish.

Many voices at once: That’s wonderful.

Topher: It seems to be a direction that Liberty Science Center is heading and do

more than just a few exhibits, do...

Milestone 1.2 41
 M.: Basically everything.

Topher: It will be a long-term transition. We have a lot we have to both learn

and think about if we’re going to do it well. So that’s where we’re heading.

S.: I know you’re saying Spanish. You would only have these to begin with or
would you branch out into other languages later on like Portuguese or, you know,
Asian, whatever, would you branch out into other languages? Spanish is, you
know, our population down there is, I have many, many Portuguese people who
are not speaking Spanish but speak Portuguese.

M.: It depends on where you live in Newark.

B.: It really is because we have a big Bosnian population. What are you going to
do about that?

Topher: And that is one of the issues that we’re struggling with internally right
now is it English and Spanish or is it five different languages or ten or are there
certain number of languages that we could present things in that would target a
very broad audience, perhaps not everybody, but a broader audience than English
alone? And we don’t know those answers yet but...

V.: Once you get one, that’s it.

M.: But I find that most of the Portuguese children in school, they do understand
enough Spanish that they, you know, they can get friendly even though they don’t
have much English yet.

Topher: So another question we wanted to address here is what are the things
that you might suggest that we could do with this exhibition that would make
school trips to experience it more beneficial? More, either easier or to facilitate
the connections, making connections between the exhibition and the classroom?

M.: Well, I know that at the, some of the board meetings they are collecting
science objectives from various school systems. So I think you are working toward
that.

B.: Again as much as you can make hands-on or visual, things they can listen to,
you know, those are the most popular things I think.

M.: I agree with you. I think the more visual or, you know, auditory they have as
opposed to reading because even when English is your second language, you
understand more than you can read, so, you know, I think that that would be a big
help for the children and the adults.

P.: I think it has to be multisensory even if it means for ...

...(SIDE ENDS..NO OVERLAP)....

V.: ...that’s a little hard for the children but they come and ask....actually got put
together...

M.: But we saved it until after our trip here.

V.: But then when we came, I mean we came back another night, M. and I and we
did different activities with simple things like can you make this paper stretch, the
paper stretch and stuff. We went back and I said, wait until you see this kids. And
I did that, and they were like amazed. And when they did it, they were even, you
know, they couldn’t...and the water, the colors, the coloring with the water...
Milestone 1.2 42
 M.: The magic markers.

V.: The magic markers and the water, you drop the water and the coffee filter
thing....and I think that took a lot of....and they wanted to know where did you
get it from. Even the teachers in the building, see, we don’t tell too much.

They don’t want to share, right?

Well, you know, you share....

M.: I can’t see why some more of them won’t come.

V.: Yes, that’s it, you know they’ll say they’ll come back and give us all the stuff.
But I mean they would ask, oh, the Liberty Science Center had this, but you didn’t
come out that night. No, I mean you sit there and you just wait....I mean it’s
reality. It’s like, you know, you people, even at your jobs, I mean I don’t know
much of the business world but I’m just saying, sometimes there’s a little thing,
well, don’t worry, he’ll come back with the information that we all need and....and
the same thing happens with us. They’ll sit there and they’ll wait or they’ll say,
well, they wouldn’t share with us. Well, you know, everybody has a car or
transportation and everybody is over 40 and they can drive or they can come and
they can do the same thing. So anyway, the kids loved it. They thought it was a
little bit of magic. And you know they couldn’t believe that you did this. So I
think we can make a...

M.: It kind of pulls the parents in because the kids want it.

V.: They go home and they do it.

B.: I agree with that. This is B. again. I think it’s really nice to have some post-
activities after...pre- and post, if you have some things for the teachers to do either
before or afterwards, it kind of ties it up and makes it meaningful.

V.: Yes, a little bit memorable.

V.: At this point, I think what we need at this stage of our, we need more, before
in our age group we didn’t need that so much but I think right now the kids need
that. They need something that they can hold and say I did this.

Anthony: This is Anthony. You guys talk about coming here and doing things
like activities or say a workshop, what about ideas for, you know, things that you
can access without necessarily being in the building? Whether it be a web page or
something we could send to you?

M.: That would be wonderful. We could have things come to the building, you
know, just like you borrow from the library or you borrow from the museum.
Maybe we could borrow, you know. You know the museum drops boxes off, you
know, for us and picks it up on certain days.

S.: Even a web site where kids could ask some questions and there’s some way to
get the answer back.

P.: Maybe if you had a Liberty Science lending library.

M.: That’s what I’m saying, like the museum does.

P.: They already do that at some of the educational resource centers in the state.
Milestone 1.2 43
 And considering, you know, a multitude of resources that are here, some people, I
guess I’m looking at it from many perspectives, some people can’t get here so of
course you offer them the electronic field trips. Some people can get here. But if
you really wanted to tap into just about every source besides the web site, if you
had some kind of like a lending library and set it up, even if you, even if the school
had to pay some kind of, you know, a minimal fee and then just had it connected,
at least maybe you can even have a person or one district represented by a person
who would be responsible for like say pick up and delivery and, you know, set a
rotation, I mean if people violated something, they’d lose their privilege. You
know you could have all these things instilled but I think it would great because
there’s so much to offer. And, you know, I don’t know, I think there would be
another way of making a connection. I think it would be great. Sometimes, and I
hate to say it but some teachers are a little bit reluctant to want to stick their neck
out, you know, sometimes they’ll say, well, I’m not really that much of an expert or
I never really did that or I never dabbled in it. And they’re almost fearful of making
a mistake or they think they may have to be perfect about it. And maybe, you
know, you can kind of motivate some of them to be a little bit more interested too.
So it might be a two-fold purpose but you know, it would be very beneficial in the
end.

M.: And maybe when we could get some of these, we call them traveling exhibits
or whatever you want to call them, we could even use them for nights when we
have parents and things, you know, and that would also let the parents see what’s
going on. But I find that, you know, you can borrow from the museums and
things. They bring a box of whatever it is you agreed to take on. You keep it for a
couple of weeks or whatever and you pass it around the rooms and then they
could take it back and then you get something else. It’s really great. And I think
that would be a great thing if the Liberty Science Center could do that.

M.: Especially when you’re closed, what are we going to do?

Anthony: We’re working on that.

M.: And then what’s going to happen, you know, we, some of us do depend on
you.

Well we can do this _____.

M.: Okay, well, that’s what I’m saying, if you had this all set up to go, that would
be wonderful. That would still be our connection.

M.: It really bothers me that you’re going to close.

V.: You don’t know how much we come here.

M.: Yes, I mean we really do....we have a big connection here. It really bothers
me terribly that it’s going to be closed. Such a wonderful resource. It’s a shame
that more people don’t take advantage of it.

Topher: E.....

E.: I was just going to ask M., what was the Newark Night? Something more
presented for like the Newark public schools?

M.: Any school system can have that, right Anthony? You probably could tell her
a little more about it.

Anthony: Well, currently we offer it to the Abbott districts.

Milestone 1.2 44
 M.: Oh, it’s just the Abbott districts? Aren’t they an Abbott district?

You picked Elizabeth?

M.: I’m sure they’re on the list. They already have a date.

(EVERYONE SPEAKING AT ONCE)...

Anthony: But, yes, I can explain it to you folks how it exactly works.

M.: See, I was telling you but you’re not an Abbott district.

P.: We’re not an Abbott district, we’re a small suburban district, a little peanut on
the map.

V.: Don’t say that. You’re a very important little tiny piece on the map.

P.: I know but sometimes people don’t realize that suburbia-land needs a little
shot in the arm once in a while too.

(EVERYONE SPEAKING AT ONCE)...

Topher: R., you look like you have something...

R.: Yes, because she said that your school is leaving the center?

M.: No, no, we just said we feel like we live here because we’re here all the time,
ourselves personally, not our school.

M.: And Jersey City is an Abbott district.

V.: No, she’s charter.

Oh, they’re charter, oh, I’m sorry.

Topher: Are there any other ideas you want to suggest or concerns you want to
raise about this exhibition we’re planning?

S.: What’s your time line for putting it out there?

Topher: It’s supposed to open in December of 2005.

S.: That sounds awfully long....

M.: When are your closing, after the first of the year...or the following
September?

Topher: I’m not sure that there’s been a definite date set.

M.: Oh, good, you’re pushing it away more.

Topher: We still have to break ground...

E.: It’s almost a shame they couldn’t work on one isolated section of the....

E.: Even if they had, I know it sounds weird probably but a partial facility part
open. I know that basically it’s a big renovation and you’re really going to revamp
Milestone 1.2 45
 everything so I understand the need to be accessible but I almost wish that, that
could be a feature. And I guess lastly too, on your panel or your resource people
out there, have you thought about having any type of pediatricians serving on the
panel?

Anthony: We have physicians on the advisory board.

M.: But that’s a good point with the pediatricians because, you know,
you’re...(INAUDIBLE)...

E.: A lot of times they have a really good mannerism with the kids than, you
know, as a teacher you try to make a recommendation and you hope that they
make a connective link with somebody that’s a little more amiable that’s going to
lead them down the right path. Nowadays I think the idea that there’s an
accessibility and somebody they can feel comfortable with rather than a turnoff is
really important. And that’s the key thing.

Topher: Other comments?

Topher: I’d certainly like to assure you all that here at Liberty Science Center we
are going to minimize the amount of time that we have to close our doors. You
know, it’s contrary to everybody’s interest to keep ourselves closed. There will be
some time that we have to because of the magnitude of the changes that will be
occurring. But as Anthony alluded to, we’re working hard to come up with
different ways to either enhance things we already do or maybe even do things in
a different way because we do recognize that people rely on us and we want
people to be able to rely on us. We don’t want people to forget about us.

M.: Yes, and that will happen.

Topher: Right. So we’re going to be working hard to make sure that we do reach
out to everybody that is already there and hopefully continue to reach out to some
people who haven’t yet discovered Liberty Science Center. I’d like to thank you all
for taking the time to do this. We’ve got a small appreciation gift that I have to
get for you.

(END OF FOCUS GROUP)

Milestone 1.2 46
Appendix C
Glossary
bacterium: a unicellular organism lacking a nucleus and membrane bound
organelles (i.e. prokaryotic); a small subset of bacteria can cause human infections

cell: the smallest unit of life; a membrane and, in some cases, a cell wall define the
outer boundary of a cell; a cell contains DNA and machinery required to create
protein from this genetic material

DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid; the genetic information inherited from parent to child;
frequently described as the “blueprint of the cell”; a polymer consisting of
nucleotide subunits

endemic: occurring naturally within a region (e.g. Malaria is endemic to Tanzania).

epidemic: a geographically isolated outbreak of infectious disease (e.g. Ebola

outbreak in Gabon five years ago)

etiology: the study of the cause or origin of disease

eukaryote: one of two broad classes of cells; eukaryotes have membrane bound
organelles including a nucleus; also used to refer to an organism made up of one
or more eukaryotic cells (e.g. plants, animals, fungi, protists); contrast with
“prokaryote”

fungus: unicellular or multicellular organism having a cell wall but lacking the
ability to convert light energy into chemical energy and relying on extracellular
digestion (e.g. yeast)

gene: the functional unit of DNA; a single gene typically encodes a recipe for a
specific protein

genome: a complete version of the genetic material necessary to make a particular

species

germ cell: a sex cell (i.e. egg or sperm) that contain a haploid number of
chromosomes (23 for humans)

host: an organism that a pathogen infects

infectious disease: illness caused by an organism or biologically derived molecules

that have some capacity for replicating or inducing replication of themselves within
the host; their presence within the host disrupts the host’s normal biological
functions

mitosis: the process by which a somatic cell copies its chromosomes and divides into
two cells, insuring that each cell receives a complete copy of the genome

mutation: a modification to a DNA molecule; while most mutations have no effect,

mutations that change gene regulatory regions or regions encoding proteins can
have beneficial or detrimental effects

natural selection: the evolutionary principle suggested by Charles Darwin.

Selection occurs when selective pressures affect the fitness of individuals within a
population differently, causing the most fit individuals to reproduce more
successfully than other members of the population. Genetic variability within the
population underlies the variability in fitness in the face of a particular selective
pressure. Natural selection results in the increase in the frequency of a heritable
Milestone 1.2 47
 trait within a population.

nucleotide: the molecular subunits of nucleic acids; adenine, cytosine, guanine, and
thymine for DNA; in RNA, uracil is substituted for thymine.

pandemic: infectious disease spread across geographic regions (e.g. small pox in
Asia and Europe a few hundred years ago)

parasite: an organism that lives in or on a host of a different species and that

obtains nutrients or other resources from the host, causing the host harm; human
infectious parasites are typically worms or protozoans

pathogen: something capable of causing an infectious disease (e.g. bacterium,

parasite, fungus, prion, virus)

prion: a protein (or perhaps class of proteins) found in vertebrates; while the
normal function of prions remains unclear, some abnormal prion proteins can
interact with and convert normal prions into the abnormal conformation; among
other infectious diseases, abnormal prions cause Mad Cow Disease (bovine
spongiform encephalopathy) and the human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

prokaryote: one of two broad classes of cells; prokaryotes lack membrane bound
organelles; also used to refer to an organism consisting of a prokaryotic cell (e.g.
bacteria); contrast with “eukaryote”

protein: a biological molecule encoded by a gene; a polymer consisting of amino

acid subunits linked through peptide bonds

protozoan: a unicellular, eukaryotic organism belonging to the Protista kingdom

RNA: ribonucleic acid; created by making a modified copy of DNA; plays one of
several roles in protein synthesis; the genome of some viruses consists entirely of
RNA; a polymer consisting of nucleotide subunits

sequencing: determination of the molecular identity of each nucleotide in a DNA

sequence; knowing the ordered nucleotide sequence permits decoding of the
information it represents

vector: an organism that transfers an infectious agent from one host to another.
Blood feeding arthropods (e.g. mosquitoes, ticks, fleas) frequently serve as vectors
for human infectious diseases.

virus: a particle consisting of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) surrounded by a protein

coat; capable of infecting a cell and using the cells machinery to create new viral
particles

Milestone 1.2 48