Lesson Plan

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Lesson Plan
Grade: Date: 17/01/2026
Subject: Geography
Lesson Topic: Monitoring disease to manage public health emergencies
Learning Objective/s:
  • Describe key epidemiological indicators (incidence, prevalence, CFR, R₀, Rₜ) and calculate them from data.
  • Compare passive, active, syndromic, laboratory‑based and event‑based surveillance systems and explain their role in outbreak detection.
  • Analyse the public‑health response cycle and apply it to a case study such as the 2014‑2016 Ebola outbreak.
  • Evaluate the strengths and limitations of surveillance systems using criteria of timeliness, representativeness, data quality and flexibility.
  • Interpret simple SIR model outcomes to predict how interventions affect disease spread.
Materials Needed:
  • Projector and screen
  • PowerPoint slides with diagrams and tables
  • Printed worksheet with indicator formulas and case‑study questions
  • Laptop with internet access for interactive mapping demo
  • Whiteboard and markers
  • Handout summarising surveillance system types
 Introduction:
Begin with a short news clip of a recent outbreak to hook interest.
Ask students what information they would need to decide on a response, linking to prior learning on basic epidemiology.
Explain that by the end of the lesson they will be able to describe surveillance systems, calculate key indicators, and outline the response cycle.
Lesson Structure:
  1. Do‑now (5’) – quick quiz on incidence vs. prevalence.
  2. Mini‑lecture (15’) – overview of surveillance system types and key epidemiological indicators using slides.
  3. Guided practice (10’) – calculate incidence, prevalence, CFR, R₀ and Rₜ from a sample dataset.
  4. Case‑study analysis (15’) – small groups examine the Ebola 2014‑2016 outbreak, fill a response‑cycle chart and discuss monitoring highlights.
  5. Modelling demo (10’) – teacher demonstrates a simple SIR model showing how reducing β lowers R₀ and flattens the epidemic curve.
  6. Whole‑class debrief (5’) – discuss strengths/limitations of surveillance systems and complete the summary checklist.
Conclusion:
Recap how accurate monitoring informs each stage of the response cycle and ask students to write one key takeaway on a sticky note as an exit ticket.
Assign homework: each student researches a recent disease outbreak and prepares a brief surveillance summary to share in the next lesson.