Low Birth Weight of Newborns

within Low Income Communities

WebQuest by Kristin Azer

Email: Kristin.azer@gmail.com

Introduction

Modern day science and medicine have proven the substantial importance of proper nutrition and care during pregnancy. Studies have shown woman are at greater risk of delivering premature & low-birth weight babies due to poor nutrition, stress, improper pre-natal health care and environmental factors. There have been significant studies of low income women being at a much greater risk for low birth rates due to socio-economic conditions that do not allow for optimal conditions during pregnancy.

What are long term effects of low-birth weight and premature birth?

Is there a solution to close the economic gap in pre-natal care?

Task

You have been assigned to participate as part of a committee to propose a bill to law makers to enforce change within low income communities to change the current statistics and high rate of pre-mature, low birth weight infants of new mothers. . Your committee will be made up of a group of 4 students, each with a specific role. You will research and debate amongst each other in order to propose a bill to be voted on by the House of Representatives of the United States Government.

What types of prevention or social services can be provided?

What types of educational programs can be started in the community for increased awareness?

Where will we achieve funding for facilities, doctors, increased health care?

Your group will present a multimedia oral presentation using either PowerPoint or Prezi, and written Bill proposal document stating your stance and providing clear supportive evidence.

The Process

During this WebQuest you will work in groups of 3 and play the role of researcher, doctor, and lawyer involved in the development of legislature in this field.

Researcher – Your role is to gain knowledge about studies and statistics to support your campaign on the gap between low income communities. You will provide the scientific backing to advocate your committee’s goal with the use of proven research and evidence.

Doctor– Your role is to gain knowledge of the health effects and concerns surrounding the effects of development of a fetus due to poor nutrition and stress. You will research and be the health advocate for your committee to provide the medical background of at risk low-birth weight and pre-mature infants.

Lawyer– Your role is to consult with the doctor and researcher about their concerns surrounding the effects of low income households on expecting mothers. You will be responsible for delegating and drafting the proposed bill to submit your argument to your law maker. You will use scientifically backed arguments from your researcher and doctor to develop a proposed bill to address this social problem.

You will each follow the following steps of PPA to complete your task.

1. Defining the problem

2. Gather the Evidence

3. Identify the Cause

4. Evaluate the Existing Policy

5. Develop Solutions

6. Select the Best Solution

Resources

· Publication: Chronic stress and low birth weight neonates in a low-income population of women

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17267833

· Article Infants’ Low Birth Weight Is Linked to Low-Income Mothers http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3918207b.html

· Article March of Dimes Low Birth Weight Effects of Low Income Household

http://www.marchofdimes.org/baby/low-birthweight.aspx

· Article about the low income and birth weight associations

http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/134/10/1167

· Publication Low Birth Weight Effects

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360975/

The Evaluation

	Exemplary 4	Accomplished 3	Developing 2	Beginning 1
Organization	Information presented in logical, interesting sequence	Information in logical sequence	Difficult to follow presentation--student jumps around	Cannot understand presentation--no sequence of information
Subject Knowledge	Demonstrates full knowledge of low birth weight effect by answering all class questions with explanations and elaborations	At ease with expected answers to questions but does not elaborate on genetic testing	Uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions on genetic testing	Does not have a grasp of the information. Cannot answer questions about genetic testing
Graphics	Includes a variety of graphics, text, and animation that exhibits a sense of wholeness. Creative use of navigational tools and buttons	Includes a variety of graphics, text, and animation. Adequate navigational tools and buttons	Includes combinations of graphics and text, but buttons are difficult to navigate. Some buttons and navigational tools work	Either confusing or cluttered, barren or stark. Buttons or navigational tools are absent or confusing
Research	Uses a variety of sources in reaching accurate conclusions	Uses a variety of sources in reaching conclusions	Presents only evidence that supports a preconceived point of view	Does not justify conclusions with research evidence
Written Bill Proposal	Bill contains all essential parts, including bill number, short title, long title, numerous findings and an execution clause	Bill contains most of essential parts, including bill number, short title, long title, numerous findings and an execution clause	Bill contains less than 3 of essential parts, including bill number, short title, long title, numerous findings and an execution clause	Bill is poorly written and contains less than 1-2 of essential parts, is including bill number, short title, long title, numerous findings and an execution clause
Oral Presentation Elocution/Eye Contact	Maintains eye contact and pronounces all terms precisely. All audience members can hear	Maintains eye contact most of the time and pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation	Occasionally uses eye contact, mostly reading presentation, and incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing	Reads with no eye contact and incorrectly pronounces terms. Speaks too quietly

The Conclusion

After your presentations to the class we will discuss the following debrief questions.

How has what you previously knew or believed about the importance of proper health care and nutrition for pregnant mothers changed since the beginning of your project till now?

What recommendations do you have for law makers within this area? What changes to society can be accomplished?

How will you use your knowledge to empower education on this public problem?

What did you find most valuable about this project?

Standards

Common Core State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.4

Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.6

Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology's capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.

NYS Living Environment Standards

Standard 1: Key Idea 1: 1.1c Science provides knowledge, but values are also essential to making effective and ethical decisions about the application of scientific knowledge.

Standard 1: Key Idea 1: 2.2e Knowledge of genetics is making possible new fields of health care; for example, finding genes which may have mutations that can cause disease will aid in the development of preventive measures to fight disease.