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Module 8: Contact Tracing

The Story...

As Tash continues his quarantine, he is called by a contact tracer, who hopes to identify all the people who Tash may have unwittingly infected. During their conversation, the contact tracer explains the various models of disease spread to Tash, who cannot help but wonder when the pandemic will end so he can live his normal life again. What role do contact tracers play in the COVID-19 pandemic? How does contact tracing work to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19?

Performance Expectations

  • Acquire information about contact tracing from various media and generate questions that extend my learning as I pursue them.
  • Develop a descriptive definition of the contact tracing.
  • Communicate information about the history of contact tracing in public health.
  • Construct an evidence-based explanation of ways that mitigations designed to slow the pandemic are based on understanding of transmission methods.
  • Make evidence-based claims about the relative restrictions and effectiveness of lockdowns and contact tracing.
  • Infer the rate of spread of coronavirus based on the value of the Reproductive Number.
  • Develop rational why they should answer phone calls from contact tracers and what to expect during the phone conversation.
  • Draw a flowchart that illustrates the sequential processes involved in contact tracing.
  • Describe the sequential processes involved in case identification and contact tracing and relate them to the principles on which these public health strategies are based.
  • Develop and use a model to represent connections among issues and possible solutions related to contact tracing.
  • Compare and integrate sources of information about contact tracing presented in various media in order to create a model that shows relationships among issues and solutions.

Module 8 Challenges

  • Challenge 1: What is Contact Tracing?

    Learning Targets:

    • I can define “contact tracing.” 
    • I can describe ways that contact tracing has developed over time.

  • Challenge 2: What do we need to know about a pathogen to slow its spread in a pandemic?

    Learning Targets: 

    • I can explain how mitigations designed to slow the pandemic are based on understanding of transmission methods. 
    • I can make evidence-based claims about the relative restrictions and effectiveness of lockdowns and contact tracing. 
    • I can interpret the rate of spread of COVID-19 based on the value of the Reproductive Number.

  • Challenge 3: What is the Process of Contact Tracing?

    Learning Targets: 

    • I can explain to my friends or family why they should answer phone calls from contact tracers and what to expect during the phone conversation. 
    • I can draw a flowchart that illustrates the sequential processes involved in contact tracing. 
    • I can relate the processes used to the principles of case identification and contact tracing.

  • Challenge 4: What are some issues related to Contact Tracing?

    Learning Targets:

    • I can develop and use a model to represent connections among issues and possible solutions related to contact tracing. 
    • I can compare and integrate sources of information about contact tracing presented in various media in order to create a model that shows relationships among issues and solutions.