Disease Guessing Game

Learning Objectives

For students to identify diseases using symptoms, disease facts or vaccination recommendations as clues

Teacher Instructions

· The day before you play the game, hand out a disease fact sheet below and ask students to study it as homework. You can also use the ready-to-go preteen power point presentation to teach kids about vaccine-preventable diseases.

Another great resource is www.mybestshot.org.

· Ask students the following day if they have any questions about the diseases they studied.

· Ask students to break out in groups of two. Students should choose a disease they learned about and secretly write it down on their post-it.

· Students should pass their post-it to their partner, being careful not to reveal the disease.

· Ask students to stick their post it on their foreheads so that it is visible to their partner but not to them.

· Players should decide order of play.

· The first player will attempt to guess the disease stuck to their foreheads by asking yes/no questions only. For instance, a student may ask, “Is one of the symptoms high fever?” However, questions like “Does my disease name start with a ‘v’?” are not allowed.

· Students can ask as many questions as necessary to help them identify the disease.

· Once they have successfully guessed their disease the other player will then try to identify their own disease.

· Each group of two should play simultaneously.

· After everyone has guessed their disease, ask students to share their experience. Was the disease difficult to guess? Why or why not?

If time allows, ask for 5 volunteers. Pick diseases that were not as popular among students, and ask those volunteers to stand in front of the classroom. Volunteers can call on their peers to help them answer their questions and guess the diseases. Offer prizes or extra credit points to the volunteers that guessed the disease correctly.

Disease Fact Sheet

Preteen Doctor Visit:

v All 11- and 12-year-olds need to go to a preteen doctor visit. You’re growing up quickly and may have lots of questions about puberty, how to eat right, how to deal with friends that may pressure you do to drugs or drink alcohol, how to stay safe during sports or when you’re alone or with friends, and how to prevent serious diseases.

v Your doctor may recommend shots (vaccines), including Tdap, meningococcal, chickenpox, flu, and human papillomavirus.

Human papillomavirus (HPV)

v This vaccine is for preteen boys and girls ages 11 and 12.

v This vaccine can help prevent cervical cancer and other types of cancer.

v HPV is the most common cancer-causing virus in the U.S.

Chickenpox

v As you probably know, anyone can catch chickenpox!

v This disease is also called Varicella and can be very dangerous to preteens and teenagers.

Meningococcal (me-ninja-cah-cal)

v Anyone can catch this serious disease

v This disease can be spread by sharing saliva (ex. sharing drinks or kissing). It can also be spread through air droplets, like when people with the disease cough or sneeze.

v Some people who catch this disease lose their limbs—arms, fingers, and legs may be cut off (amputated). Others may become deaf, have brain damage, and some even die.

Tdap

v This vaccine protects against 3 diseases: tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis

v Tetanus is caused by bacteria that can enter your body through a small cut in your skin; it cannot be spread from person to person.

v Whooping cough is the common name for pertussis—a disease that can make you cough so hard it breaks your ribs! It could also make you vomit (“throw up”) and have a hard time drinking, swallowing food or breathing. You can be sick for weeks or even months

v California 7th graders now need proof of a Tdap vaccine before starting school.