Post-16: planning an expedition
4. After your visit: review what you learnt
Review what you learnt from the Cocoon experience and start your own expedition plan.
Task: as a class, discuss the following:
- Did you ask the scientists any questions?
- What surprised you most?
Expedition Plan
In pairs, look at your expedition plan.
- What information can you add?
- What information do you still need to collect?
To access the content you saved during your Cocoon visit, go to the NaturePlus page and enter the number on your barcode during the registration process. Look at the links you collected. What can you use for your plan?
For links to help you finish your plan, select the tab below for the disease you are studying.
Malaria
Justification
In order to justify your trip, you will need to explain why malaria is a problem. Often, scientists have to write to ask for funding, to trusts such as Wellcome or GlaxoSmithKline. Often, pharmaceutical companies fund research into disease. The sort of evidence that could be used as justification would be statistical data, or papers written by other scientists.
Abstract summary
Read an abstract of the real scientific paper below. What did the authors find out about the four species of mosquito? You might want to refer to this article in your proposal.
Read abstract of Anopheles maculipennis complex in Greece paper.
A day in the life of a Museum scientist
Watch an 8-minute video of Museum scientist Yvonne Linton in the link below and then decide what equipment you will need to pack for the expedition.
Watch the day in the life of a Museum entomologist video
Mosquito species
Follow the link below to a map of the distribution of different Anopheles species and then choose which species you want to study.
View map showing global distribution of Anopheles species
Travel and insurance costs
Search on the internet to find out likely costs for travel and medical insurance.
Leishmaniasis
Follow the link below to read a description of a real Museum science project:
Have you chosen a suitable location to gather specimens?
Importance
Leishmaniasis has implications for veterinary research as well. Read the project outline above carefully. What could be a problem if sandflies become more prevalent?
Follow the link below and read the news article:
Will climate change bring more disease?
Why might this start to be relevant to wider range of countries?
Costs
You will need to do an internet search to find out likely costs for travel and medical insurance.
School bookings
All school activities must be booked in advance. To book, please call our school bookings line between 08.30-16.00, Monday to Friday during term-time, or 10.00-13.00 during the school holidays.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5555