VIRUSES: Bonus info and extra resources
Did you enjoy learning this way, drawing along with a video lecture?
If so, the good news is that I’ve done lots of these video lectures. Some are one-shot lectures (not part of a series) and many are about invertebrates. They are listed as FREE resources, under the VIDEOS tab on the top menu bar. Each video has a template page to download, just like the virology lectures did. The invertebrate lectures are usable with upper elementary, also, as the subject matter is not as difficult as virology.
If you want to study anatomy and physiology with me, take a look at Mapping the Body with Art, a project that took me over three years to complete. I do charge a fee to access this course, but if you compare it to other video courses, or to private tutoring, the price is hard to beat.
FOR MORE IMMUNOLOGY: If you have already taken basic cell biology and you’d like to learn more about the immune system, consider purchasing Module 3 (Tissues) of “Mapping the Body with Art” and doing lessons 40-49. There might be a few points where I refer to something in previous lessons, but it won’t be anything that prevents you from being able to follow along as we draw the immune cells. (I add some humor to this section, to keep a heavy topic light and fun!)
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SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITY IDEAS:
Activity 1.1: Play an online video game to help with coronavirus research
This is for fairly serious gamers who like to stick with things for a length of time. “Foldit” is an online “game” where players have to solve puzzles about 3-dimensional shapes. Humans are much better than computers at solving 3D puzzles, so researchers realized that an army of humans could accomplished quite a bit in a short period of time. You don’t have to know anything about biology to participate, but you will probably pick up some info along the way. They are mostly looking for people who like 3D puzzles.
You are presented with various puzzles that simulate how a certain peptide chain might fold up to form a protein shape. The shape must be the most stable possible, and the game has those guidelines built into it already. You just play the game. (Players have already helped to come up with 10o possible protein structures for stopping the “cytokine storm” that SARS CoV-2 causes. The proteins will go to labs assays very soon.)
Here is the address for their home page. You can click around for more info.
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VIDEO CLIPS ABOUT ANIMAL VIRUSES:
Are you interested in studying veterinary medicine someday? If so, you might find these videos clips helpful. (All of them are short).
Papilloma virus in dogs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSuHVcnAyqw
Canine influenza novel virus in early 2000’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZm6BbgRzb8
How the vets deal with parvo infections: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7grbkmzaVf8
What it looks like when a puppy is coming down with canine distemper virus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3sYiKS8tQU
Early symptoms of rabies (racoon shown here, and only 30 seconds, just enough to see the drooling and foaming mouth, loss of balance, and disorientation). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbShge695GI Disease will progress and get much worse, causing death. If you ever see an animal looking and acting like this racoon, don’t go near it (!) and immediately call for professional help from an animal control agency.
A vet tech talks about feline leukemia virus in cats: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa93-7S1xY0
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VIDEO CLIPS ABOUT CORONAVIRUS:
Here two videos about the coronavirus. You will already be familiar with a lot of the information you see and hear in the videos.
