Please watch the first three episodes on the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic as a comparison to what is happening today. The other three episodes will be assigned next week. Please share your thoughts and your opinons about the videos below. Thanks!
Here are the links(If videos are restricted, try using your phone/tablet):
The other activity is to reply by giving your opinion on whether we should go back to work/school to save the US economy or not to save lives. Go here to leave your opinion.
Go here to vote in the "Will we be back in school this year" poll.
Other things to do:
--I will leave last weeks story on "Is softball sexist" open. Feel free to read and reply to that as well. Link
--I will allow CWI/USH students to add their own current event stories they would like to discuss on the forum. Since I can't grade anything, all personal comments will not count towards your official froum post count during this time. I think it's important to keep up with the events of the world.
--Practice the Asian maps. The test will be about four days after we come back
--Feel free to take advantage of the extra credit opportunities I allow for(30 point max per quarter). I officially can't accept extra credit during the break, but you can stockpile them for when you come back. And if we don't come back, keep it for next year in US/World History(if you have me).
--I am available via email pretty much all day, including weekends. I will also be available in the chat room on my website whenever I am on my website. Feel free to ask questions there as well.
Replies
The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic sounds horrifying and I hope that COVID-19 doesn't get that bad. I don't think that it will for various reasons, however I am not an expert or a doctor and I don't know much about medicine. I think that the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic was much worse because of when it took place. The early 1900's was a much different time from the present. It was over 100 years ago and we have increased our knowledge of diseases and how to controll them greatly. We now know that it is important to take precautions to stop the spread of disease. I think that the reason we are so precautious about viruses is because we have learned a lot from the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic and we take precautions in order to not repeat history. For example, the Spanish Flu spread by people being around eachother too much because of the war that was going on. The people in charge didn't listen to the experts when they were told to have people stay away from eachother. Thats why the virus spread so much and killed so many people. Now, people are being ordered to stay away from others to stop the spread.
Great points Theresa! Thanks for your comments!
These videos really provide a lot of information about how destructive the Spanish Flu was. It's so surprising that one third of the world's population was infected by this disease. It's crazy and slightly terrifying to think about how something so dangerous and lethal is still out there today. The way that the Spanish Flu presented itself and affected the people infected is absolutely terrifying. It seems very scary looking back on the Flu time and how the illness was handled because we now know so much more about science and medicine now than we did then. Who knows how much less destructive the Flu would have been if there had been more information and scientific knowledge to help out the world back then. It's very interesting to know the real reason why it was called the Spanish Flu; it didn't originate in Spain, they were just the first country infected that was neutral, so they had no problem showing weakness and publishing it. I understand why they wanted as many men as possible in the military because they were at war, but it just increased the spread of the disease by so much by having the men in such close quarters. It really puts it into perspective how much social distancing can help out during any pandemic to stop the disease's spread.
Thaks for your comments Ellie!
I didn't know very much about the Spanish Flu before I watched the video. I didn't realize how deadly it was. I can't believe that it killed 50-100 million people. I think that a big reason that it killed so many people is because people weren't careful enough. Doctors tried to warn the military to stop sending troops and stop drafting people but they didn't listen. The lack of technology back then could've made a big impact of the spread too. I didn't realize how important it was to quarentine and stay healthy right now as the coronavirus is spreading. However, I think that the mortality rate of the coronavirus is much smaller (thankfully.) The videos also make me appreciate modern medicine and technology. The fact that we are able to come up with vaccines and slow the disease by practicing social distancing is a big advantage that we have over the people in 1918. I don't think that the coronavirus will be even close to as big as the Spanish Flu because we are a lot more careful and have more advanced technology and medicine.
Thanks for your comments Macy. I'm guessing that if the Covid-19 hit back then it might have killed a lot more due to, as you said, lack of proper medicine, communication, and technology. See if you can find a comparison between the two.