Outbreak relationship map
Do now
Build a relationship map linking patients, places, and times to find how an outbreak might be spreading.
- Hand in
- Node-and-link outbreak relationship map with labeled connections, circled source, and a one-sentence testable hypothesis.
- Where
- Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Eight people got sick over three days. Given only who they are, when they fell ill, and where they had been, which one place did they all pass through, and could that be your source?
Build a relationship map linking patients, places, and times to find how an outbreak might be spreading.
- • You will be able to organize outbreak data into a relationship map.
- • You will be able to identify a likely common source of exposure.
- • You will be able to state a testable hypothesis about spread.
- If ten sick people all ate at the same restaurant last Saturday but nowhere else in common, what would you suspect and why?
- What does 'the first known case' of an outbreak tell an investigator that the tenth case does not?
- 1Lay out the case data: who got sick, when, and where they had been.
- 2Draw each patient as a node and connect any patients who shared a place or event.
- 3Mark the earliest cases and look for a common exposure they all share.
- 4Circle the most likely source location based on the shared connections.
- 5Add a short label on each link explaining the connection (same restaurant, same day).
- 6Write a one-sentence hypothesis naming the likely source and route of spread.
What did this day actually feel like?
Outbreak relationship map
Mapping who contacted whom, when. Our first map was a spaghetti mess until someone suggested ordering it by date instead of by person. Same data, completely different picture, and a cluster appeared.
Turned in: relationship map → Lab Notebooks folder
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
The same day, drawn.
Mapping who contacted whom, when. Our first map was a spaghetti mess until someone suggested ordering it by date instead of by person. Same data, completely different picture, and a cluster appeared.
CLASSMATE
Order it by date instead of by person. It is the same data.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
🛠 Get unstuck · pick your level
🔑 Today's words · 5
Tap a word in the lesson for a plain meaning and one example. Recycled into next week's Do-Now.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: Epidemiologists map cases by person, place, and time so that a shared exposure among the earliest patients becomes visible, because that shared exposure points to the outbreak's source.
- 0-10 minLay out the case : patient names, onset dates, and locations visited
- 10-30 minDraw the node-and-link map: one node per patient, link any who shared a place or event
- 30-45 minMark the earliest cases (index cases) and highlight shared exposures in a second color
- 45-58 minCircle the most likely source location; label each link with the shared exposure
- 58-72 minWrite the hypothesis: one sentence naming the source and route of spread
- 72-80 minPartner compare: do your maps agree on the source? Discuss any differences
- • During a foodborne outbreak, investigators have hours, not weeks, to find the source before more people get sick.
- • The relationship map is the visual tool they use to spot the pattern hidden in patient data.
- • Today you play that investigator role with a real-style dataset.
- • Exit goal: a completed relationship map with one circled likely source and a hypothesis sentence.
- • Epidemiologists look for the index case (first known patient) and shared exposures to identify the source.
- • A relationship map (also called an exposure network or epi-link map) visualizes connections between cases to reveal chains.
- • A hypothesis in epidemiology is testable: it names a specific source and a specific route of spread.
Outbreak investigation, symptom clusters, pathogen categories, evidence maps. Monday debate: isolation vs. autonomy. · Outbreak relationship map
Day 4 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: Use the case data in Activity 1.1.2 Investigating an Outbreak in myPLTW to build your outbreak relationship map.
Complete the node-and-link map with labeled connections and a hypothesis sentence.
table should be done (Wednesday); relationship map due today.
Relationship map with labeled links and circled source in notebook.
The official PLTW activity stays inside myPLTW. If myPLTW will not open, use F1 and E1-E3 on this page to complete today's local evidence decision, then make up the official activity when access returns. Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Check things off as you work, then submit. This tells Mr. Mendoza how you're doing so he can help the class. It does not replace turning in your producible through the submission route shown below.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
Outbreak investigation, symptom clusters, pathogen categories, evidence maps. Monday debate: isolation vs. autonomy. · Outbreak relationship map
Use the case data in Activity 1.1.2 Investigating an Outbreak in myPLTW to build your outbreak relationship map.
table should be done (Wednesday); relationship map due today.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Build a relationship map linking patients, places, and times to find how an outbreak might be spreading.
- Lay out the case data: who got sick, when, and where they had been.
- Draw each patient as a node and connect any patients who shared a place or event.
- Mark the earliest cases and look for a common exposure they all share.
- Circle the most likely source location based on the shared connections.
- Add a short label on each link explaining the connection (same restaurant, same day).
- Write a one-sentence hypothesis naming the likely source and route of spread.
Notebook check: Node-and-link outbreak relationship map with labeled connections, circled source, and a one-sentence testable hypothesis.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Use the checklist just below and upload by 11:29 PM for full credit. Absent with an excused absence? You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Lay out the case data: who got sick, when, and where they had been. | _______ |
| Draw each patient as a node and connect any patients who shared a place or event. | _______ |
| Mark the earliest cases and look for a common exposure they all share. | _______ |
| Circle the most likely source location based on the shared connections. | _______ |
| Add a short label on each link explaining the connection (same restaurant, same day). | _______ |
| Write a one-sentence hypothesis naming the likely source and route of spread. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- You will be able to organize outbreak data into a relationship map.
- You will be able to identify a likely common source of exposure.
- You will be able to state a testable hypothesis about spread.
- 1Do thisBuild a relationship map linking patients, places, and times to find how an outbreak might be spreading.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisNotebook check: Node-and-link outbreak relationship map with labeled connections, circled source, and a one-sentence testable hypothesis.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the drop folder.
- 2Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 3Upload the file, named Lastname_Firstname__Assignment Title.
- 4Your own upload panel says Uploaded with a green check: that is your receipt.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions) › Outbreak investigation, symptom clusters, pathogen categories, evidence maps. Monday debate: isolation vs. autonomy. › Notebook checkOpen the drop folder
Learn it · deck, reading, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
Epidemiologists map cases by person, place, and time so that a shared exposure among the earliest patients becomes visible, because that shared exposure points to the outbreak's source.
Wet footprints appear across connected rooms after one person enters from the rain.
- Which footprint came first?
- Which rooms connect?
- What pattern would support more than one entry point?
Patterns across time and connection can narrow a explanation without proving it by themselves.
People change behavior, infections have periods, and surveillance data can be incomplete.
- • Footprints map to recorded cases.
- • Room connections map to exposures.
- • The route hypothesis maps to a limited claim.
Driving question: Eight people got sick over three days. Given only who they are, when they fell ill, and where they had been, which one place did they all pass through, and could that be your source?
What you already know: A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
New idea: Epidemiologists map cases by person, place, and time so that a shared exposure among the earliest patients becomes visible, because that shared exposure points to the outbreak's source.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Outbreak relationship map. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in Outbreak relationship map.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Patterns across time and connection can narrow a explanation without proving it by themselves.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Eight people got sick over three days. Given only who they are, when they fell ill, and where they had been, which one place did they all pass through, and could that be your source?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : A microorganism such as a bacterium, virus, fungus, or parasite that can cause disease in its host.
- • symptom: A sign of illness that a patient feels or notices, such as pain, fever, or fatigue, which helps point toward a diagnosis.
- • sign: An objective indication of disease that someone else can observe or measure, such as a fever, rash, or swelling, unlike a symptom the patient feels.
- • outbreak: A sudden rise in cases of a disease above the normal level in a place or group, often spreading quickly and needing rapid response.
- • epidemiology: The study of how diseases spread, who they affect, and what causes them across populations, used to find patterns and guide prevention.
- • reservoir: A living host or environment where a normally lives and multiplies, serving as the source from which infections spread.
- • vector: A that delivers genetic material into a cell, such as a or virus, or an organism like a mosquito that spreads a disease.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
Epidemiologists look for the index case (first known patient) and shared exposures to identify the source.
Limit: E1 supplies context or an observation; it does not by itself establish the explanation.
Epidemiologists map cases by person, place, and time so that a shared exposure among the earliest patients becomes visible, because that shared exposure points to the outbreak's source.
Limit: E2 is a teaching statement or comparison and must be checked against the task evidence.
You will be able to organize outbreak data into a relationship map.
Limit: E3 supports only the result or product criterion named here; it cannot justify a broader clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-09-08 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: medical interventions team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from Outbreak relationship map supports before submitting the notebook record named on the lesson page.
- • Choose the strongest supported explanation.
- • Choose the next evidence to collect.
- • Hold the decision because the evidence is insufficient.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the notebook record.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Outbreak relationship map. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from Outbreak relationship map supports before submitting the notebook record named on the lesson page.
Context: An outbreak leaves a pattern in who got sick, when, and where they had been, so mapping the connections between cases can reveal a shared source that no single patient's story shows on its own.
- • T1: Lay out the case data: who got sick, when, and where they had been.
- • T2: Draw each patient as a node and connect any patients who shared a place or event.
- • T3: Mark the earliest cases and look for a common exposure they all share.
- • T4: Circle the most likely source location based on the shared connections.
- • T5: Add a short label on each link explaining the connection (same restaurant, same day).
- • T6: Write a one-sentence hypothesis naming the likely source and route of spread.
- • E1: Epidemiologists look for the index case (first known patient) and shared exposures to identify the source.
- • E2: Epidemiologists map cases by person, place, and time so that a shared exposure among the earliest patients becomes visible, because that shared exposure points to the outbreak's source.
- • E3: You will be able to organize outbreak data into a relationship map.
Measurements: No patient measurement is supplied unless it appears explicitly in E1-E3 or F1. Do not invent a value.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Outbreak relationship map. Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Students often think Students often assume the sickest patient, or the one who reported it, is the source of the outbreak.. The trap: The person to focus on is the index case, the earliest known case, not the loudest or most severe one. Severity does not equal timing. Chasing the sickest patient instead of the earliest one can point your whole investigation at the wrong source and miss the shared exposure that actually links everyone.
I drew each patient as a node and connected any two who shared a place or event. The earliest cases (Patient A on day 1 and Patient B on day 1) both ate at the same restaurant on the same day, so I circled that restaurant as the likely source.
Hypothesis: the outbreak began at the downtown restaurant on August 28, and the disease spread through contaminated food served that day.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A node-and-link diagram connecting patients by shared places and times, with the likely common source circled and a one-sentence testable hypothesis.
- Date and label the entry.
- Record the procedure, observation, or design decision clearly.
- End with what the evidence means and the next step.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Photograph and upload to portfolio; bring to Friday's CER writing session.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Outbreak relationship map. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Outbreak investigation and case framing by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:outbreak, . Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Outbreak investigation and case framing by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:outbreak, case. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this after the required lesson work when you are ready for a harder application or a deeper connection.
Placement rationale
Matched Outbreak investigation and case framing by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/00_Unit-Overview; keywords:outbreak, . Score 134. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
Claim ceiling for this check: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Outbreak relationship map. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
Five patients got sick. Four of them attended the same picnic on Monday; the fifth never went but lives with one of the four and got sick two days later. Where is your likely source, and how do you explain the fifth case?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Go further and get help▸
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Today is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your Notebook check.
Open the drop folderTurn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
CDC: Principles of Epidemiology (self-study)- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedTurned in the right way, on the class site or handed to Mr. Mendoza in class, and confirmed. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.