Asthma Amongst Children:

An Investigative Reporting Project

For the Modern Student of Social Studies

Paul Robeson Magnet School

We know that asthma is…

a rather common medical problem. something that many people consider to be

easily treatable and under control. caused and irritated by air pollution. more of a problem for children than adults. more common in the Bronx than anywhere

else in New York City.

But we need to be asking these kinds of questions:how does asthma change the lives of those who have it?

why do some neighborhoods have more asthma than others?

what can we do to change how much asthma there is around us?

what is the national rate of asthma in children (how many out of 100)?

what is the rate of asthma in children in the Bronx?

what do things like race and class have to do with all of this? Anything?

To answer these kinds of questions and more, you will need to form two teams of two. Team one will be

responsible for researching the causes, the effects, and the national rates of asthma as well as find out in which two NYC boroughs have the most asthma-related asthma visits.

Team two will be responsible for researching how asthma is different for children, about how many American children have it, as well as the children’s asthma rate for the Bronx.

Here are your exact questions,

so follow along in your packets and ask any questions you might have now, before you’ve begun.

Team one, you must discover:

What causes asthma in children? How can asthma make life different for

those who have it? In which two boroughs of New York City do the most people go to the hospital for asthma?

What is the national pediatric (children’s) asthma rate?

While team two solves these:

How is asthma different for children than for adults?

How many Americans suffer from the effects of asthma? Of those, how many are under the age of eighteen?

What is the pediatric (children’s) asthma rate in the Bronx?

Then both teams get back together to answer the last, and most important questions: What conclusions can you draw from your

investigations? What kinds of medicines or treatments are

there for asthma? What do race and class have to do with

asthma? What is the main problem with asthma in

the Bronx?

Both teams begin their research by getting on the internet and going to:http://www.maxwell.s

yr.edu/plegal/TIPS/ resres.html

Then follow your packet directions carefully to search for and find your answers!

Just remember that questions lead to ideas, and ideas take you in all kinds of directions, so…

Don’t be afraid to wander around a little bit; you can always get back to where you started. Or visit some of these great sites:*http://allergy.mcg.edu/lifeQuality/nasp.html

*http://allergy.mcg.edu/lifequality/index.html

*http://www.aanma.org/aaadesc.htm

*http://allergy.mcg.edu/lifequality/kac2.html

*http://www.healthline.com/articles/ac990106. htm

*http://www.noah.cuny.edu/asthma/asthma. html

Remember:

You must work together to come up with the answers you need. All of your team answers should provide you with enough information. Your next step is to organize that information…

and present it on a slideshow program like this one.

With so much to do and learn, who could stand to wait another minute?

Get started!

After all…

There’s a world of change you can make!