"Babies and Birth Defects: A Mystery in Texas" is an educational module designed to teach middle school and high school students about epidemiology, neural tube birth defects, and folic acid. First, the students learn the vocabulary for the module. Then, an actual epidemiologic case is introduced in which three babies are born with anencephaly, a severe and fatal neural tube birth defect. The students learn about the scientific method and epidemiology as they follow the steps scientists used to investigate the problem. Epidemiology incorporates math and science. Related topics include medicine, psychology, behavioral science, and nutrition. Research and information about the B-vitamin folic acid is introduced. Folic acid can prevent 50%-70% of neural tube birth defects. This case mystery was an actual event. However, details have been modified and simplified for teaching purposes. You could bring these lessons to life using music, drama, cooking, and letter writing.
Contact: Donna Vandergraff, Phone: 765-494-8228, E-mail: vandergraff@purdue.edu
Funded by Folic Acid Council grant from March of Dimes.
