High School Curriculum Project
A curriculum supplement on rare diseases for high school biology classes has been developed by a genetic counseling master’s degree student in collaboration with The National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). This curriculum contains background information for teachers and creative, flexible classroom activities to promote active learning. The activities focus on advancing scientific understanding of rare disorders; promoting compassion, empathy and respect for people with different abilities; developing critical thinking skills; and preparing students to make informed decisions as citizens. This resource is intended for biology and health teachers to use on Rare Disease Day 2012 (Feb 29), but can be a useful tool to teach rare diseases year round. Read the Rare Disease Curriculum Introduction.
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Middle School Rare Disease Curriculum
The NIH has created a curriculum supplement for Rare Diseases and Scientific Inquiry targeted at grades 6-8. According to the NIH website, students explore how scientists use inquiry to research rare diseases and treatments and to further understand the workings of the human body. The supplement contains two weeks of lessons that are easily integrated into your curriculum and are aligned to national and state standards. You can learn more from NIH’s website.
Other In-School Activity Ideas:
- Have an assembly talking about Rare Disease Day and present stories of those with rare diseases
- Have the students take part in the Visions of Solidarity Project and display them in the school
- Provide students with index cards with the name of a rare disease, have the students research the disease and write a brief description on the card, post the cards, and enter the returned cards in a drawing (possibly for prizes)
- Ask students to write a paragraph about how rare diseases affect the lives of others and what they can do to help make a difference. Make a collection/book of all the students writing.
- Have each student trace his/her hand and ask him/her to write something he/she will do to help spread awareness. Make a collage with all the hands.
- Get people within the town and community involved by having an event or fundraiser
- During daily announcements, say a quote or short statement to remind the students of Rare Disease Day
- Work with a Video Production class to produce a video to be used during morning announcement on Rare Disease Day
- Post information on bulletin boards
- Have a Student Information Table at lunch
- Have 1 out of 10 students wear a pin or wrist band to represent a person with a rare disease
- Hand out beads in a school assembly, and give 1 of every 10 students a bead of a different color to represent the 1 in 10 Americans with rare diseases