The NASA SCIence Files™
Finding the Flu

Purpose: To determine when the flu is most prominent in the United States

Background

Winter months seem to be the time of year when most people contract the flu. Is this trend true or does it just seem that way?

Materials

Procedure

  1. In your group, discuss who has recently been sick with the flu. In your science journal, record the date that each person was sick.
  2. Combine your data with other groups’ data to create a class chart of flu outbreaks.
  3. Determine if there is a pattern and discuss.
  4. Look at the 12-month calendar and notice that the months are divided into weeks. Starting with January 1, number each week of the year. There are a few variations but generally weeks 1-4 are in January and weeks 48-52 are in December.
  5. Using your class data, make tally marks for each person that was sick during that week. Total the number of students sick for each week.
  6. Create a bar graph displaying your data.
  7. Conduct a survey of other students and adults in the school and at home. You may want to divide up into teams to interview each class in the school.
  8. Add the data to your calendar and create a second bar graph.
  9. Discuss your findings and compare the two graphs.
  10. Optional:
    • Access the following web site: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/flu/weekly.htm
    • In the box on the left under the section titled “Site Contents” there is a section titled “Reports & Surveillance.” Click on the current report and view the graph for the current season. Each color represents a different type of flu virus.
    • Determine which three weeks of the current year has had the most cases of flu detected.
    • Review the reports available for other years and repeat “c” for each year.
    • Using the information, complete the chart below (week 1 is the week with the most flu outbreaks detected, week 2 is the next, and so on):
Season Week 1 Week 2 Week 3
Current Season      
2001-2002      
2000-2001      
1999-2000      
  1. Determine when the flue outbreak is most prominent and predict when it will be most likely for people to become infected in the upcoming year.

Yearly Calendar

yearly calendar

Extension

Conduct research to determine why the flu is most prominent during the determined months. Create a Power Point presentation or commercial warning people about flu epidemics