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ScienceMathStorytelling

Public-Health Outbreak Simulation

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Grades 6-860-75 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Students model how a pretend illness spreads through a small group of people. Then they have to share uncertain public-health decisions, like when to suggest closing a school, with a worried mock community. It shows how messy real disease decisions can be.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • Decision matrix templatePrintinguse what you have
  • graph paperBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$0 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Materials

Tokens; Dice; Graph paper; Clear cups; Decision matrix template

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Set up a population of 30 tokens and predict how fast an illness spreads with no response. Run a baseline simulation with dice and graph cases over time.
  2. Write a criteria and constraints sheet: criteria such as peak cases under 10 and outbreak over within 10 rounds; constraints such as only 5 test kits per round and no more than 3 school-closure days. Cite how germs spread (close contact, droplets, surfaces) and the impacts of each choice on families, learning, and jobs. Also list at least one impact on the natural environment, such as waste from used masks and test kits or disinfectant washing into drains, and turn it into a constraint (for example, no more than 30 single-use items per round).
  3. Design at least two competing interventions, such as handwashing and masks (lower the infection roll), testing and isolating, or closing school for 3 rounds (fewer contacts). Write the rule change for each and count its single-use items.
  4. Run each intervention through the simulation with the same starting dice rules, at least twice, and graph cases over time for each.
  5. Score each intervention in a decision matrix against the criteria and constraints, using the graphs as evidence.
  6. Add a twist (too few test kits or a rumor) and rerun the top intervention to see if it still meets the criteria. Adjust it if needed.
  7. Give a short public-health briefing that recommends the winning intervention, shows the matrix, and states what the team is and is not sure about.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-1

    Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.

  • NGSS · MS-ETS1-2

    Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.