Through the Lens: Polio Outbreak in the United States
Television redeemed itself by presenting topics of public safety, including the polio outbreak. In 1954, one-fourth of the 3,748 cases of polio in the United States occurred in adults 20 years or older. Television provided timely and often dramatic news on the disease and raised public awareness of the effectiveness and availability of the vaccine to combat infection.
Source
Through the Lens: North Dakota as Seen by Television in the 1950s (1986); State Historical Society of North Dakota
Grade Level
3 - 12
Subject Matter
Social Studies, Science
Standards
Identify ways to prevent the spread of germs
Identify ways in which science and technology have greatly improved human lives (e.g., food quality and quantity, transportation, health, sanitation, communication)
Explain how science affects personal health (e.g., injury prevention, immunization, organ transplant, medical scanning devices)
Identify the factors (e.g., pollution, heredity, diet, virus, bacteria, parasite) that may result in disease
Identify factors that affect populations (e.g., food webs, carrying capacity, overpopulation, disease, food supply, algal blooms, resources, conservation practices)
Describe how community life has changed from past (i.e., pioneer and tribal) to the present
Explain how supply and demand affect personal economic choices (e.g., how scarcity forces people to decide which goods and services to obtain, what is given up in economic choices)
Identify the varying roles (e.g., parent, teacher, brother/sister, student, girl/boy scout, community volunteer) that individuals play in various groups (i.e., family, school, and communities)
Identify similarities and differences between past events and current events in North Dakota (e.g., in the lives of people from different cultures past and present)
Describe similarities and differences between past events and current events in U.S. history (e.g., in the lives of people from different cultures past and present)
Identify principles governing individual and group behavior (e.g., cooperation, collaboration, power, conflict) within social dynamics (e.g., familial, political, religious)