Investigating an outbreak: explain and revise
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Discuss and revise your Day 1 explanations. Write a claim, evidence, and reasoning (CER) response and finish the Activity 1.1.2 conclusions.
Today is Checkpoint C: your revised record, CER, and three official conclusions. Use the official Day 1 histories in Schoology and keep your editable copy. Finish these investigation checkpoints before the DNA lesson.
1. Open your materials
2. Start the work
Open your Checkpoint B record and the research library. Read Model R: explain and revise, I1 on interventions, and C1 on contact tracing. These supply today's writing model and reference facts.
Show all 5 required steps
- Open your Checkpoint B record and the research library. Read Model R: explain and revise, I1 on interventions, and C1 on contact tracing. These supply today's writing model and reference facts.
- Share your possible explanations with a partner or the class. Ask which clue supports each explanation and what is missing. Use C1 to name a missing timing or contact detail. Revise one statement after feedback. If absent, write a challenge to your own explanation and respond.
- Use the library outline to explain the tentative connection you wrote about at Checkpoint B. Write one short claim, evidence, and reasoning response, not one for every history. Use at least three evidence points from the histories and cited references together. Include a limit and name a new record that could test the explanation.
- Complete all three conclusion questions on page 10 of official Activity 1.1.2 in your own words. Open the activity through the Schoology materials hub. Use I1 where relevant.
- Submit one PDF with your revised record and map, CER, and three conclusions in the September 10 Schoology assignment linked below. Keep your editable copy. Stop at Checkpoint C before Activity 1.1.3. Use only Day 1 evidence; a possible explanation is not a final diagnosis.
Lost your place? Find the first missing part: feedback, CER, or an official conclusion. Use the matching section of the library and finish that part first.
Check your work before submitting
- I recorded feedback or a self-challenge and explained my revision.
- My tentative claim uses at least three cited evidence points and explains why they matter.
- I stated a limit and identified a new record that could test my explanation.
- I answered all three official conclusions, using source-backed intervention concepts and only fictional case information.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Revised outbreak record, CER, and conclusions
How to submit and name your file
Submit one PDF containing the revised record and map, your CER, and the three official conclusions in the September 10 assignment linked below. Keep an editable copy. Check Schoology for the deadline.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Find this lesson's Schoology assignments
These are existing assignments for your section. Follow the directions in the assignment you are working on; this list does not add new work. Check Schoology for each deadline.
Link will not open? Open Schoology, choose your course and section, and find the title shown above.
How this lesson connects
Day 1 case notes → contact map → researched explanations → DNA evidence. Keep one investigation record and revise it as new evidence arrives.
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: Explain what the evidence supports and where it stops.
- 0-10 minRead the writing model, I1, and C1; reopen the investigation
- 10-25 minDiscuss explanations and record a revision
- 25-45 minWrite a bounded CER with evidence and a limit
- 45-65 minComplete the three official conclusions using the references
- 65-80 minCheck that the CER names a new record, submit the combined PDF, and check the uploaded preview
- • Today I want you to explain your thinking and revise it after discussion.
- • A careful limit is part of a strong explanation. You do not need to name a confirmed or source from incomplete evidence.
- • Finish the official Activity 1.1.2 conclusions before we begin Activity 1.1.3. Use only the fictional records, never your family's health information.
- • A tentative claim may change when more evidence arrives.
- • CER means claim, evidence, and reasoning: a decision, the facts, and why those facts matter.
- • Treatment helps an ill person; containment aims to reduce further spread.
PLTW connection and today's work
Finish the Day 1 research, class discussion, and conclusions in PLTW Activity 1.1.2, Investigating an Outbreak. The official activity and case stay in Schoology; the portal supplies original writing and research support.
Today's stopping point: Stop at Checkpoint C before Activity 1.1.3. This is the end of the Day 1 investigation work, not a final diagnosis. Later evidence may change your thinking.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Course connection
- Activity 1.1.2 Investigating an Outbreak
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
Use the slides and optional guided notes to help with the checkpoint work listed above. Submit only the parts named in this lesson.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
For the original slide animations, use the PowerPoint download.
Citation auditA symptom match supports a possibility, not a diagnosis.
Explain what the evidence supports and where it stops.
Driving question: What can we defend now, and what new evidence should we seek next?
What you already know: Your Checkpoint B explanation is already testable. The library defines claim, evidence, reasoning and revision before you write.
New idea: Explain what the evidence supports and where it stops.
Visual or model: F1. F1 is the writing outline from the library: claim, evidence, reasoning, limit. Your CER follows it in that order. What to notice: Explain what the evidence supports and where it stops. A tentative claim is one you may change when more evidence arrives.
- Share your Checkpoint B explanation; ask which clue supports it and what is missing. If absent, write a challenge to your own explanation and respond.
- Revise one statement after feedback and record what changed and why.
- Write one claim, evidence and reasoning response about that tentative connection: at least three cited evidence points, a limit, and a new record that could test it.
- Answer all three conclusion questions on page 10 of Activity 1.1.2 in your own words, opened through the Schoology hub, using I1 where relevant.
Real biomedical example: Revising a claim after feedback is how an investigation gets stronger; a claim that cannot change is not being tested. Source: Infectious Diseases.
What the evidence supports: The records and references support the Checkpoint C product: the revised record and map, one CER about the Checkpoint B connection, and all three official conclusions, submitted in Checkpoint C.
What it cannot prove: Day 1 evidence cannot confirm a or a source; a possible explanation is not a diagnosis.
- • Sign: A clue another person observes or measures, such as a temperature reading.
- • Symptom: A clue the person experiences and reports, such as a headache.
- • Exposure: Contact with a possible source of illness. It is not proof of infection.
- • Contact map: A drawing or list of stated connections between people, each labeled with its source fact.
- • Hypothesis: An explanation we can test with new evidence.
- • Checkpoint: A stopping point in the official activity. Each checkpoint is one PDF.
Use it now: Use Model R: explain and revise. What did the partner's point change, and why is the revised claim stronger?
Go further, optional: The library's source links let you check or extend a card. The cards themselves contain every required fact.
Your Checkpoint B research notes, corrected map and the testable explanation written below it, plus a partner's challenge or your own self-challenge.
Limit: Only Day 1 evidence and the cited reference cards. Later case evidence stays closed.
The library's Model R: explain and revise (a worked tentative claim with its revision), I1 on treatment versus reducing spread, and C1 on and privacy.
Limit: Original practice and reference support. The worked claim is about Model R, not the official case.
Check the histories for a confirmed diagnosis, a laboratory result and a complete timeline before you rely on one; mark what is not stated. Discussion can change a claim; the record cannot confirm a or a source.
Limit: The three official conclusions are answered in your own words from Day 1 evidence and I1, not from a diagnosis.
MI-OUTBREAK-C · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: intern on the outbreak investigation team
Decision: After discussion the class agrees on one likely source. Decide what your written explanation may claim before you write the CER and the conclusions. Use E1, Model R and the limits in E3.
- • Explain the Checkpoint B connection with three cited evidence points and a limit, then revise the claim after the challenge.
- • Turn the explanation into a confirmed and source, since the discussion agreed and the conclusions ask for an answer.
- • Leave the CER blank until the Day 2 and Day 3 evidence arrives, because a claim written now will only have to change.
Response: One PDF: the revised record and map, one CER about the Checkpoint B connection, and all three official conclusions, submitted in Checkpoint C. The choice discussion is preparation, not another submission.
Claim ceiling: Explain a tentative connection with three cited evidence points and a limit. Day 1 evidence cannot confirm a or a source; a possible explanation is not a diagnosis.
Students often think revising an explanation means the investigation failed. The trap: revision shows that you are testing your thinking against evidence. Record what changed and why
MR1 reports a cough and runny nose. MR2 says symptoms began gradually. MR3 supplies no laboratory result. R1 and R2 show that these clues can fit a cold or COVID-19. The evidence supports comparing causes, not confirming one. An appropriate laboratory result could help distinguish possibilities.
| Record | Fact | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| MR1 | Cough and runny nose reported | Symptoms overlap between illnesses |
| MR2 | Gradual onset | Timing alone does not confirm the cause |
| MR3 | No laboratory result supplied | Unknown is not a negative result |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Original simulated practice for the research and explanation work in Activity 1.1.2. It contains no official case answers.
- 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: Use the official histories and the research library for your own work. Keep Model R separate from official evidence.
- 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.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Explain a tentative connection with three cited evidence points and a limit. Day 1 evidence cannot confirm a or a source; a possible explanation is not a diagnosis.
Can a shared contact and similar symptoms confirm who started an outbreak?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
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.
Use the same model and references. Replace partner discussion with a written self-challenge and response. Submit the same revised record, CER, and three official conclusions together. Tell me if an official file will not open.
Writing model and research librarySubmit one PDF containing the revised record and map, your CER, and the three official conclusions in the September 10 assignment linked below. Keep an editable copy. Check Schoology for the deadline.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Writing model and intervention supportHow I will check this work
- I recorded feedback or a self-challenge and explained my revision.
- My tentative claim uses at least three cited evidence points and explains why they matter.
- I stated a limit and identified a new record that could test my explanation.
- I answered all three official conclusions, using source-backed intervention concepts and only fictional case information.
Your CER explains a tentative claim, not a final diagnosis. Use the Schoology assignment linked above to submit it.
This week
My Progress dashboard