If the simulation starts with one infected person and all of the other factors
remain the same, determine how many
school days it would take for
approximately half of the people to
become infected. Justify your reasoning.

1) If a school of 400 people remained open, predict how many days it would take for half of the people to become infected. Justify your reasoning.
Use the interactive and set the population size to 400 people to represent the number of students in a school and keep all other parameters the same.
(2) If the simulation starts with one infected person and all of the other parameters remain as is, determine how many school days it would take for approximately half of the people to become infected. Justify your reasoning.
(3) Were the results the same or different from your prediction? How come?
Infected individuals can spread the virus 14 days before they begin to feel ill. Change the parameters to represent this information as the number of days contagious.
(4) Given the new parameters, determine how many school days it would take for half of the people to become infected?
(5) Given the current parameters, use mathematical reasoning to explain how someone can predict the number of people that will become infected based on the number of days in school.
(6) Explain what other parameters might slow or speed up the spread of the virus in any school.

Pandemics: How are Viruses Spread? Activ