What solutions reduced malaria case numbers and deaths in Macha and Sub- Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2020?

High School | Daily Do

What solutions reduced malaria case numbers and deaths in Macha and Sub- Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2020?

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Biology Engineering Is Lesson Plan High School

Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor. Each weekday, NSTA will share a sensemaking task teachers and families can use to engage their students in authentic, relevant science learning. We encourage families to make time for family science learning (science is a social process!) and are dedicated to helping students and their families find balance between learning science and the day-to-day responsibilities they have to stay healthy and safe.

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What Is Sensemaking?

Sensemaking is actively trying to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design solutions to problems (engineering). Students do science and engineering through the science and engineering practices. Engaging in these practices necessitates that students be part of a learning community to be able to share ideas, evaluate competing ideas, give and receive critique, and reach consensus. Whether this community of learners is made up of classmates or family members, students and adults build and refine science and engineering knowledge together.

Lesson Snapshot

In this lesson, high school students, as scientists, apply life science and engineering ideas to answer the driving question: What solutions reduced malaria case numbers and deaths in Macha and Sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2020? Students begin by connecting prior knowledge about diseases and recognizing that empirical evidence is needed to establish cause-and-effect relationships. Next, they analyze data and evaluate information on malaria in Macha, Sub-Saharan Africa, and worldwide, using videos, scientific texts, and models. In their investigations, students summarize scientific texts, use multiple models, and apply ideas about genes and natural selection to develop a mechanistic account of resistance to artemisinin-based monotherapy (oAMT1) and malaria treatment strategies. Students also consider how social and cultural contexts influenced the development and implementation of malaria solutions, including collaborative approaches with local communities. Finally, students summarize the empirical evidence and models to construct an explanation for the decrease in malaria cases and deaths between 2000 and 2020, considering both scientific and social factors.

This lesson plan was created in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University Press, the Johns Hopkins Office of Research, and Nobel laureate Dr. Peter Agre, based on his 2025 Wavelengths book Can Scientists Succeed Where Politicians Fail? The lesson plan is sponsored by Johns Hopkins Wavelengths, a program dedicated to connecting cutting-edge research with public audiences through books, digital toolkits, museum exhibits, and speaker events.

Photo: Jason J. Mulikita/Johns Hopkins University

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Materials

Student Materials
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Teacher Materials

JHU L7 Slides

Optional Teacher Resources

Additional Resources