As
senior school science and chemistry teacher, I am in the prime position for
educating the young people of Ghana about HIV/AIDS. They are just at the right age and education
level to really understand some of the more complex particulars of the
disease. Futhermore, I can give an
HIV/AIDS lesson without them even knowing...
What
do I mean? I mean I am the Sneaky HIV
Teacher! I mean I can sneak in heavy
duty information about HIV/ AIDS, while the students think the topic of the day
is the digestive system. I mean I
routinely educate people about HIV/AIDS without them becoming ever
uncomfortable or burnt out. I mean I
encourage healthy sexually practices wihout ever waving a condom around, I mean I am the Sneaky HIV Teacher!
Here
are some of my recent Sneaks in my Integrated Science class....
Section
|
Topic
|
The
Sneak
|
Classification
in Biology
|
The
Five Kingdoms (Prokaryotae, Protoctista, Animalia, Plantae, and Fungi)
|
"There
are five kingdoms into which all living organisms can be classified... [blah
blah blah] ...But you know something interesting? Viruses don't fit into any of these
categories because they aren't technically "living." And one particularly interesting virus is
human immunodeficiency virus..."
|
Introduction
to Chemistry
|
Mixtures
|
"There
are two types of mixtures: homogeneous and heterogenous. A homogeneous mixture is a mixture which
appears uniform in consistency. For
example, blood is a homogeneous mixture, which in addition to blood cells can
contain all sorts of stuff! Like
bacteria, or the malaria parasite, or HIV..."
|
The
Immune System
|
Leukocytes
(White Blood Cells)
|
"There
is a special type of white blood cells (leukocytes) in your body called
lymphocytes, which play very important roles in the function of the immune
system. And one very important lymphocyte, the CD4+ T cell is this type of cell that gets
attacked by HIV..."
|
The
Circulatory System
|
Blood
|
"The
blood consists of red blood cells (erythrocytes), plasma, and white blood
cells (leukocytes and plasma)... [blah blah blah] ...And leukocytes - do you
remember our class about the immune
system? About the Lymphocytes and the
CD4+ T cell...."
|
Diseases
and Infections
|
Infectious
Diseases
|
"Infectious pathogens can include bacteria, fungi, viruses,
and parasites. Malaria is common
infectious disease caused by the plasmodium parasite, which enters your blood
when a mosquito bites you. HIV is a
common infectious disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus..."
|
I
could go on and on... But you see the point, right? Just sneak it in there when they least expect
it, and they will never feel weird or uncomfortable about discussing HIV/AIDS!
Sincerely,
Ama
"The Sneaky HIV Teacher" Fati
