D4.7.6-8: Assessing What We Can Do Alone and Together

Overview

Lesson Procedure

75-75 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction25 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure10 minutes

1. Warm-Up10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "The trash cans by the school's back door overflow every Friday. List one thing you could do about it alone, one thing your class could do together, and one person who could fix it for good. What makes that person able to fix it?"

   Make three columns on the board: Alone, Together, Who Decides. Students usually notice that one person can pick up litter but cannot change the pickup schedule, while the person who decides (a custodian, a principal, the town) can. Name the three ideas: individual capacity, collective capacity and a lever of power. Tell students that people in 1911 faced the same questions about a far more dangerous problem.

2. Direct Instruction25 minutes

   Part 1: The question and the sources. The compelling question is "What could one person do about the house fly in 1911, and what took a whole community?" The fly campaign is a vehicle for the skill. Howard's book was written for the general public; Austen's pamphlet was sold by the British Museum for one penny, according to its cover.

   Words to know: typhoid fever is a serious illness caused by germs in dirty food or water; Howard explains in chapter III that flies could carry these germs on their legs. A health officer or board of health is the part of a town or state government in charge of public health. Appropriations are money that a lawmaking body sets aside for a purpose; a subscription is money collected from people who choose to give. A crusade here means a campaign for a cause. A practitioner is a doctor. Prophylaxis means preventing disease; a sanitarian is an expert on keeping places clean and healthy. Stereopticon lectures used a projector to show pictures on a screen. "Yellow journalism" meant newspaper stories that exaggerated to shock readers. In Source 4, refuse means trash, a "tip" is a dump, and habitations are homes; 1,700 yards is the distance flies were found to fly.

   1In the country, the individual householder should care for his own surroundings in such a way as to free himself from flies, but in communities this will not be effective. A single stable owner by the proper care of his manure may greatly reduce the local supply, but there will still be many thousands from other stables in the neighborhood and from other possible breeding places nearby. It becomes necessary therefore that an organization of some kind or some system of co-operation should exist in communities.

   2In a number of towns and cities in the United States, the initiative in the fly crusade has been taken by health officers, but in the majority of communities the health officials have to be stirred up. In some cases, as in the State of Florida, the whole State crusade has been begun by the State officials and they have stirred up the town officials. In a few communities — but these are very few — private practitioners have been the exciting cause of anti-fly work. In one State only, so far as the writer knows, has the State medical association established a fly committee which has taken it upon itself to carry information concerning the typhoid fly into every portion of the State. Elsewhere, and here are the majority of instances in which anti-fly work has been begun, the beginnings have been made either by a single private individual or by some local organization, as a civic league, a women’s club, or a town improvement society. Women’s clubs have done very effective work in this direction, and it may be parenthetically stated that a great latent power exists in these organizations, a power which is only just beginning to manifest itself. The energy shown for years by these organizations, while never misdirected, has not until very recently been directed towards the work which is the most productive for the good of all, namely, general sanitary measures with a focusing upon one point after another. The Women’s Municipal League of Boston, as an example, has recently taken up the fly question through its department of sanitation, of which Mrs. Robert S. Bradley is the chairman, and is doing admirable work.

   1The first effort of such an organization should be to enlist the sympathy and co-operation of the health authorities of the community. This gained, every possible effort should be made to induce the controllers of the appropriations for the health officials to realize the importance of this work. Health officers without funds at their disposal for the employment of inspectors and for the carrying out of regulations are hopeless, and therefore the first step, after the health officials themselves are convinced of the desirability of the work, is to secure the funds. In some cases this has been done by private subscription, the money to be expended under the supervision of the health officers. In other cases private individuals with sufficient leisure have had themselves appointed as health inspectors without salary, but by virtue of the appointment they are armed with the legal authority which the health board has. Continuous and successful voluntary work of this kind, however, is not to be relied upon, and the campaign for funds, and preferably for regularly appropriated funds, must be a strenuous one.

   2Before all this, however, a campaign of publicity must be inaugurated, and in such a campaign the local newspapers are of great assistance; in fact in many cities during the summer of 1910 the local newspapers themselves inaugurated the campaign. Four excellent instances of this which have come under the writer’s observation are the campaigns begun and carried through the summer by the Minneapolis Tribune, the Kansas City Star, the Milwaukee Sentinel, and the Washington Evening Star.

   [...]

   3This is our excuse for quoting at length the sanitary regulations of the District of Columbia in so far as they relate to the fly problem. The regulations are sound and the citizens of the District have no cause in this respect to criticise the health officer, but the appropriating body in this case (and it happens to be the Congress of the United States) has not down to the present time appropriated sufficient funds to carry these regulations into full effect. Good regulations require an efficient force of inspectors, and efficient inspectors must be paid.

   1The most serious and productive effort, however, was made at San Antonio, Texas, a year or two later, at the initiative of Dr. J. S. Lankford. The school board approved the idea of endeavoring to educate all of the school children of the city in prophylaxis, and to make sanitarians out of all of them. The best medical literature on the subject was procured and furnished to the teachers. A circular letter was sent to them outlining the proposed course, and offering a cash prize for the best model lesson on the subject. [...] The children were encouraged to make drawings on the blackboard of mosquitoes in all stages of development. Lessons were given; compositions were written on the subject; competitive examinations were held, and groups of boys and girls were sent out with the teachers on searching expeditions for the breeding places. Rivalry sprang up between the 10,000 public school children in the city in finding and reporting to the health office the greatest number of breeding places found and destroyed. Records were kept on the blackboards in the schools of the progress of the competition, and great enthusiasm was stirred up. In addition to these measures a course of stereopticon lectures was arranged, grouping the pupils in audiences of about 1,000, from the high school down, and in Doctor Lankford’s words, “It was an inspiring sight to watch these audiences of 1,000 children, thoughtful, still as death, and staring with wide-open eyes at the wonders revealed by the microscope. It seemed to me that in bringing this great question of preventive medicine before public school children we had hit upon a power for good that could scarcely be over-estimated.” As a result there was a decided diminution in the numbers of mosquitoes in San Antonio. There was some opposition among the people, but the movement on the whole was very popular, and the mortality of the city from malarial trouble was reduced seventy-five per cent, the first year after the work was begun, and in the second year it was entirely eliminated from San Antonio!

   2It follows that in organizing community work, not only against mosquitoes but against flies as well, the school children must be counted upon as a most important factor. Almost all children are born naturalists, and interest in such things comes to them more readily than anything else outside of the necessities of life. They are quick-witted, wonderfully quick-sighted, and as finders out of breeding places they cannot be approached except by adults with the most especial training.

   1Under modern conditions House-Flies, except as “danger signals,” serve no purpose useful to ourselves; while, as just pointed out, they may at any time develop into a danger to human life, so that no one need have the slightest compunction in killing them. Obviously, however, it is of more importance to prevent House-Flies from breeding, than, after allowing them to breed unchecked, to endeavour to kill the resultant broods when they have invaded houses.

   2Temporary accumulations of horse-manure should if possible be stored in fly-proof bins, while kitchen refuse should be deposited in completely closed receptacles, into which it should be impossible for flies to crawl. [...] In practice, therefore, the most important and effective means of preventing House-Flies from breeding is the systematic removal, during the months from May to October inclusive, of all deposits of stable-manure and household dustbin or ashpit refuse at least once a week. Since, as has recently been shown, House-Flies are capable of flying to a distance of 1,700 yards, no municipal depot, contractor’s dumping ground or “tip,” where household refuse is allowed to remain for any length of time, should, if any other arrangement is possible, be established or permitted to exist within one mile and a half of the nearest habitations.

   [...]

   3Of the various means of destroying House-Flies in rooms, those commonly in use are too well known to require mention. Flies on the wing may readily be knocked down and killed by means of a kind of racquet of flexible wire-gauze (known as a “fly-killer”), provided with a wooden handle, and obtainable from ironmongers.

   [...]

   4So far as possible, human food—especially such substances as cooked meat and milk and sugar, which are especially attractive to these insects—should always be protected from flies by covers of wire-gauze or muslin [...]

   1An important point which we have not yet mentioned is that it will be important to have one or more well-posted physicians on the advisory board of any fly-fighting organization, in order that the tendency of enthusiastic people to make extreme statements which are unscientific and not perfectly justified by facts may be held within bounds by others posted as to scientific methods and as to the exact truth of the sanitary aspects of the crusade. The advisory committee, and especially its medical members, will find themselves much embarrassed by the difficulty of refraining from over-statements. The fly situation is an extremely bad one in all truth, but if it is exaggerated in order to attract and intensify universal popular interest, the very exaggeration will have the contrary effect upon the minds of conservative people, and upon medical men who stand for absolute exactness of statement. Moreover, there are in every large community scientific men trained in laboratory methods, who believe that exact truth can be obtained only by laboratory methods and who hold the verdict of “not proven” against certain things which on the strongest circumstantial evidence have been claimed against the fly. It is best to carry this conservative class with you if you can, and this can be done by a certain moderation in statement and by the avoidance of methods which may be termed ultra-yellow-journalistic.

   2And there is the quandary: how to frighten the ignorant and slothful and educate them on the fly question without creating a distaste for your methods and a consequent lack of helpful interest on the part of some who could be of the most valuable assistance. The writer, although he was trained to scientific methods and has followed them for many years, is inclined to think that over-statement to bring about a great sanitary reform may be justified so long as this overstatement is based upon sound circumstantial evidence.

   How to cite. The "[...]" lines mark cuts and are not numbered. Sources 1, 3 and 5 have paragraphs 1-2, Source 2 has paragraphs 1-3, and Source 4 has paragraphs 1-4.

   Part 2: Model the assessment. Work through the examples with Diagram 1, placing each capacity and lever on its ring.

   • Individual versus collective capacity, local level (Source 1, paragraph 1)

     Howard writes that in the country "the individual householder should care for his own surroundings", "but in communities this will not be effective." Why not?

     Result: Flies travel between neighbors. A single stable owner can reduce the local supply, "but there will still be many thousands from other stables in the neighborhood". One person's capacity is real but limited by everyone else's choices, so a town needs "some system of co-operation". Diagram 1: the inner ring is not enough; move to the town ring.

   • Levers of power at the local and regional levels (Source 1, paragraph 2)

     Howard says that in some towns the health officers started the fly crusade, but "in the majority of communities the health officials have to be stirred up", and that in Florida "the whole State crusade has been begun by the State officials". Which levers does this show?

     Result: Two levers: local health officials, who can act but often wait, and state officials, a regional lever that can "stir up" town officials. A strategy can push a lever from below (citizens stirring up officials) or from above (the state pushing towns). Diagram 1: town ring and state ring.

   • Money and legal authority as levers (Source 2, paragraphs 1 and 3)

     Howard says that once health officials agree, "the first step ... is to secure the funds", and that in Washington, D.C., Congress "has not down to the present time appropriated sufficient funds" to enforce good rules. What does this show about who holds power?

     Result: Rules alone are not a lever if nobody pays to enforce them: "Good regulations require an efficient force of inspectors, and efficient inspectors must be paid." The real lever is whoever controls the money, here a national lawmaking body. Diagram 1: the outer rings matter even for a local problem.

   • Comparing strategies and their outcomes, global level (Source 4, paragraphs 1-2)

     In London, Austen writes that it is "of more importance to prevent House-Flies from breeding, than ... to endeavour to kill the resultant broods". Compare the two strategies.

     Result: Killing flies indoors is something one person can do, but new flies keep coming. Preventing breeding means removing manure and trash "at least once a week" from May to October and keeping dumps away from homes; that takes stable owners, households and the city together. Likely outcome: fewer flies everywhere, but only if many people take part. Diagram 1: the British example shows the same choice in another country.

   • Predicting the outcome of a publicity strategy (Source 5, paragraph 2)

     Howard calls it a "quandary": how to frighten people into action "without creating a distaste for your methods". What possible outcomes should a campaign weigh?

     Result: Good outcome: a strong message gets attention and action. Bad outcome: people who want exact facts stop helping. Howard himself thinks overstatement "may be justified" if it rests on "sound circumstantial evidence", so even the expert is unsure. A careful plan names both outcomes before choosing a message.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Source 6, four capacity assessments written by invented students imagining they lived in a 1911 town. Tell students before they read that two of the four are deliberately weak. Pairs mark each one strong or weak, find the source evidence that supports or contradicts it, and rewrite the weak ones.

   1Nora: Alone, I could keep screens on our windows and keep our kitchen scraps in a closed can. But Howard says one careful household or stable cannot free a town of flies, because "there will still be many thousands from other stables" (Source 1). So my class should join together. In San Antonio the school board approved the children's work first (Source 3), so our first lever would be our teacher and the school board.

   2Jake: I would swat every fly I see. If every person in town swatted flies, the problem would be solved, so we do not need any rules or organizations.

   3Lila: The town health officer is the strongest lever, but Howard warns that health officers without money for inspectors "are hopeless" (Source 2). Volunteers can help for a while, but their work "is not to be relied upon". A women's club or civic league could ask for regular funds. One possible outcome: the town pays inspectors and the stables get cleaned. Another: the money is refused, and the club has to try again next year.

   4Omar: We should make posters that say every fly kills people, because scaring people is the fastest way to get action.

   5Teacher's note printed with the samples: two of these four assessments are deliberately weak. Decide which two, and why.

   Teacher key (discussion points). Nora (paragraph 1) is strong: she separates what she can do alone from what needs a group, uses Source 1, and names a lever. Jake (paragraph 2) is weak: swatting kills flies that already exist, but Source 4 says preventing breeding matters more, and he names no lever and no outcome. Lila (paragraph 3) is strong: she names a lever, its limit, a strategy and two possible outcomes. Omar (paragraph 4) is weak: the claim on his poster is not true, and Source 5 warns that exaggeration can turn careful people against a campaign.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Each student fills in the Action Planning Template (Diagram 2) for the 1911 fly problem as if they were twelve years old in a town with many stables. They must list one thing they could do alone, one thing a class could do together, two levers of power with the level of each, one strategy, and one good and one bad possible outcome, each with a source and paragraph. The last row, "Teacher-approved channel", names how a real class would share such a plan: only through the teacher.

5. Closure10 minutes

   Exit ticket: "Think of the invented Tamarack Middle School courtyard from Activity 3. Name one part of that problem where one student's individual capacity is small but a class's collective capacity is large. Who holds the lever?" Remind students that this is a planning exercise and that no one should contact anyone about it.

   Teacher note on the sources: Howard's phrase "the ignorant and slothful" (Source 5) is the scorn of a 1911 expert for people who ignored health advice; discuss whether such language helps or hurts a campaign. The sources use "his" for every householder and say little about the stable workers and poor households who would have done much of the cleaning; ask students whose capacity is missing.

   Quiz passage. Questions 1-8, 15-17, 19 and 20 use Source 7, an invented neighborhood scenario.

   1Corwin Heights is an invented neighborhood next to Corwin Middle School. Last summer, neighbors complained about mosquitoes in the evenings. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in still water, and the young, called larvae, live in the water until they can fly.

   2The school's science club, with its teacher, walked three blocks around the school and counted 24 places holding still water: 9 old tires behind a closed repair shop, 7 clogged rain gutters on houses, 5 saucers under flowerpots, and 3 puddles in the school's broken fountain.

   3The tires are on private land. The shop's owner lives in another city, and hauling the tires away would cost about $4 each. The fountain belongs to the school district. The county runs a mosquito control office that serves the whole county; it can inspect property and sometimes sprays, but it does not dump water in people's yards.

   4A report from an international health office (invented) says that mosquitoes spread serious diseases in many parts of the world, and that removing still water near homes is one of the cheapest ways to reduce them.

   5Neighbors disagree about what to do. Mr. Han likes the birdbath in his yard and does not want to empty it. Ms. Ruiz worries that spraying could harm the bees in her garden. The club's president says that students alone can only check their own homes, but the whole club could report every site it finds to the principal.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Source 7, which site of still water could one student fix alone?

   AThe old tires behind the closed shop BThe puddles in the school fountain CA flowerpot saucer at home DThe county office's spraying plan

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Who holds the lever of power for fixing the broken fountain (Source 7, paragraph 3)?

   AThe county mosquito office BThe repair shop's owner CMr. Han, a neighbor DThe school district

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   At which level does the county mosquito control office work?

   ALocal BRegional CGlobal DIndividual

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What percent of the 24 sites of still water were the old tires?

   A9% B24% C37.5% D62.5%

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   If the school fixed only its fountain, what share of the 24 sites would still hold water?

   A12.5% B37.5% C50% D87.5%

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The club's president says the whole club could report every site to the principal (Source 7, paragraph 5). Why is this a use of collective capacity?

   AA group report with 24 sites carries more weight BThe principal must obey anything a club asks for COne student is not allowed to talk to a principal DThe club can dump water in any yard it chooses

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Ms. Ruiz worries that spraying could harm the bees in her garden (Source 7, paragraph 5). What does her concern add to the assessment?

   AA lever of power the club can use BA possible harm from one strategy CA cause of the mosquito problem DA reason the problem is global

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What does the international report in Source 7, paragraph 4, add to the club's planning?

   AA global view showing the strategy is widely used BA rule that forces the shop owner to move the tires CMoney to pay for hauling the tires away DProof that Corwin Heights has a dangerous disease

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   According to Source 3, how did San Antonio keep 10,000 schoolchildren interested in finding breeding places?

   ABy paying each child for every mosquito caught BBy sending health officers into every classroom CBy a contest tracked on classroom blackboards DBy closing the schools until the work was done

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Howard reports that malaria deaths in San Antonio fell "seventy-five per cent, the first year" (Source 3, paragraph 1). How should a student use this outcome when assessing a strategy?

    AAs a reported result that needs another source BAs proof that any school campaign ends malaria CAs a figure Howard measured in his own laboratory DAs a sign that the school board did nothing at all

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does Howard think schoolchildren must be "counted upon as a most important factor" in fly work (Source 3, paragraph 2)?

    AChildren can vote on the town's health budget BChildren spot breeding places quickly CChildren are paid more than adult inspectors DChildren can make rules for the board of health

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which action from Source 4 can one person do at home, without any group or government?

    AKeep the town's dumps far from all homes BRemove all stable manure in the town each week CSet the rules for a city's refuse collection DCover cooked meat, milk and sugar with gauze

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Howard, where did most anti-fly campaigns begin (Source 1, paragraph 2)?

    AWith one private person or a local group BWith the state medical associations CWith Congress and the national government DWith doctors in private practice

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Why does Howard want "well-posted physicians" on the board of a fly-fighting group (Source 5, paragraph 1)?

    ATo pay for the group's posters and leaflets BTo keep enthusiasts from overstating facts CTo replace the town's health officer for good DTo decide which stables the town will close

15. Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer

    Using Source 7, fill in a capacity assessment: one thing a student can do alone, one thing the club can do together, and one thing that only an adult or a government body can do. Name the lever for the last one.

    Show model answer

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Which single action in Corwin Heights would remove the most sites of still water? Who holds that lever, and why is it harder for students to use than the others?

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Howard writes that one stable owner "may greatly reduce the local supply, but there will still be many thousands from other stables" (Source 1, paragraph 1). Explain how the same idea applies to a student who empties only the water at home in Corwin Heights.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Source 4 says flies can fly "1,700 yards", and that dumps should not be "within one mile and a half" of homes (paragraph 2). There are 1,760 yards in a mile. How far is 1,700 yards in miles, to the nearest hundredth, and why might the rule use one and a half miles?

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Write a three-step plan on paper for the Corwin Heights science club. Each step must say who acts (individual or group) and through what channel, and the plan must end with one good and one bad possible outcome. Use only teacher-approved channels.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Mr. Han does not want to empty his birdbath (Source 7, paragraph 5). Suggest a strategy that respects his view and still reduces mosquitoes, say whose capacity it uses, and name one possible outcome.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to D4.7.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.