THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

INTRODUCTION

As World War Two was coming to an end the nations of the world realized that an international organization was going to be needed to maintain stability and peace in the world. In 1945 the United Nations was created to serve that purpose. Among the many functions that the United Nations serves it also has many specialized and related agencies. One of these agencies is the World Health Organization (WHO) whose purpose is to facilitate the attainment of the highest possible level of health throughout the world. Some of the functions of the World Health Organization include surveying of health conditions, fighting against epidemic disease, and generally helping unprepared nations fight against disease.

TASK

This exercise was created for you, the student. Ultimately you will understand how the World Health Organization works and, specifically, its role in the containment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The goal is for you to find information and answer questions posed to you. While doing this you will teach yourself how the World Health Organization contributes to ‘healing the world.’ Many of the answers to the questions will be found on websites that you can access by clicking on them. You will answer questions about each website you visit. The questions will be located on the handout your teacher will give you. Record your answers to the questions on the separate sheet of paper. After completing the web quest you will use that sheet of paper as a guide to help you write a reaction essay describing your findings about the World Health Organization and its role in containing SARS. This is an analysis of a social problem that, in recent months, has become widespread throughout the world.

YOU WILL PRODUCE THE FOLLOWING:

1: A three-five page double spaced type-written essay using MS word and the PPA methodology analyzing the World Health Organization’s role in containing the epidemic. You will include a bibliography stating the sources you used to complete the task. This will be graded by the RUBRIC found in the “Evaluation” section.

THE PROCESS

Throughout this assignment you will be working on your own. As a reader and a student you will collect data, facts and ideas while researching the importance of the World Health Organization. You will analyze the information and experiences presented to you and synthesize your own ideas. You will use the Internet to investigate the role the World Health Organization has played not only in the researching of SARS but also in other health problems in the world. You will analyze evidence critically while demonstrating an understanding of how circumstances and time and place influence perspective. Scared yet? Don’t be. You are more intelligent than you think. Trust me, I know. This Web Quest is a guide that will help you teach yourself. Remember that using the Internet is very similar to a Web Quest. The only difference is that when at home the Web Quest is in your head in the form of your goal. Make sure that you have read all the information above and then answer question one on your handout. Before you go on to the next step you must understand the general steps included in the Global History Public Policy Analyst. Now go to the TIPS website and examine each of the five steps by clicking on each step individually.

GLOBAL HISTORY PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST STEPS

Below you will find links to each of the steps in the Global History PPA Analyst. Be sure to click on EACH of the steps before you move on.

STEP # 1: Will identify the issue

STEP # 2: will gather the evidence for the problem

STEP # 3: Will determine the causes for the problem

STEP # 4: Will evaluate the policies that were instituted

STEP # 5: Choose the best policy

THE RESOURCES

Below you will see a few websites that are related to SARS as well as the World Health Organization. Click on each of them to retrieve some information. Click on a link and then answer the questions on your handout. Complete your three examples of the functions of the World Health Organization and then come back to this WebQuest for your next undertaking.

You should have clicked on three different links located above.

For each link you should have completed the questions located on your handout.

If you do not use three links do it now.

THE EVALUATION

YOU DECIDE WHAT GRADE YOU WILL GET.

FOLLOW THE GUIDE BELOW (RUBRIC) TO SEE WHAT GRADE YOUR WORK DESERVES.

Objectives	Low Performance	Below Average	Average	Above Average	Exemplary Performance
ORGANIZATION	1 point Shows minimal effort. Work is illegible or incomplete.	2 points Effort exists but student displays little respect for their work. Student has done only what is necessary to achieve a 65.	3 points Work is adequate. Most of the work is clear and organized in such a way as to make it easy to read.	4 points Work stands out from many others. Practically free of mistakes, almost entire document is clear.	5 points Work is exceptional. The student obviously took the time to make the work clear and understandable.
SUBJECT KNOWLEDGE	1 point Shows minimal understanding if any of the material.	2 points Some understanding of the material is present but it is minimal. Student has done only what is necessary to achieve a 65.	3 points Understanding is adequate. Most of the material seems to be understood.	4 points Student obviously grasps practically all the material, stands out from many others.	5 points Understanding is exceptional. The student obviously understands the material and can help other students.
GRAMMAR	1 point Shows minimal clarity. Work is illegible or incomplete.	2 points Little effort seems present. Student did the minimum necessary to complete assignment.	3 points Grammatical and spelling errors exist.	4 points Very few grammatical and spelling errors exist.	5 points The work is free of grammatical and spelling errors. Student obviously took pride in their work and took the time to proofread.

THE CONCLUSION

Since its inception the World Health Organization has been involved in numerous efforts to reduce the amount of unhealthy conditions that exist throughout the world. It is through this exercise that you have hopefully come to better understand the global scale of its efforts. You should also understand that the goal of the World Health Organization is more than simply preventing disease or eradicating illness. You have also learned the intricacies of the evaluating public policy issues while understanding how the World Health Organization attempts to improve the lives of as many human beings as possible.

Our next web quest will deal with the social problems that have occurred as a result of the policies of the “WORLD BANK”.

Here are the New York State Standards that you will be satisfying by completing this assignment:

SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARDS

Key Idea 1: The study of world history requires an understanding of world cultures and civilizations, including an analysis of important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions. This study also examines the human condition and the connections and interactions of people across time and space and the ways different people view the same event or issue from a variety of perspectives.

Key Idea 2: Establishing timeframes, exploring different periodizations, examining themes across time and within cultures, and focusing on important turning points in world history help organize the study of world cultures and civilizations.

Key Idea 3: Study of the major social, political, cultural, and religious developments in world history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

Key Idea 4: The skills of historical analysis include the ability to investigate differing and competing interpretations of the theories of history, hypothesize about why interpretations change over time, explain the importance of historical evidence, and understand the concepts of change and continuity over time.

ENGLISH STANDARDS:

Key Idea 1: Listening and reading to acquire information and understanding involves collecting data, facts, and ideas; discovering relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and using knowledge from oral, written, and electronic sources.

Key Idea 3: Listening and reading to analyze and evaluate experiences, ideas, information, and issues requires using evaluative criteria from a variety of perspectives and recognizing the difference in evaluations based on different sets of criteria.