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#8 News 2020

BrainPop: Dr. Fauci Discusses Young People’s Role Fighting Coronavirus

September 8, 2020

BrainPop: Dr. Fauci Discusses Young People’s Role Fighting Coronavirus

 #8 Top News Lesson of 2020 A special news lesson plan featuring interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci by BrainPop and PBS NewsHour. What role do young people play in fighting the coronavirus pandemic?

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BrainPop and Dr. Fauci on COVID-19 and the Role of Young People

Today is a special Daily News Story featuring interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci by BrainPop and PBS NewsHour!

You can either watch the BrainPop video (stop video at 6m:34s, if short on time) or NewsHour’s interview with Dr. Fauci (transcript here.), or better yet, both! Read the summary and answer the discussion questions below. Then dive into some of BrainPop’s activities here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has been providing advice at to the White House as well as to states and local communities about the novel coronavirus.

  • In the BrainPop interview, Dr. Fauci discusses a number of safety measures to take to protect against COVID-19 and explains the meaning of the term vaccine.
  • Dr. Fauci has played a vital role for decades in fighting a number of serious illnesses, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and SARS. In the second half of the video (starting at 6m:35s), BrainPop dives into some fun trivia about Dr. Fauci’s personal life.
  • In the NewsHour interview, Dr. Fauci discusses the lag between rising cases and deaths, how schools can decide if it’s safe for in-person learning and why he feels confident about a vaccine.
  • Both videos discuss Dr. Fauci’s concerns that there is a growing anti-science attitude among some Americans. However, Dr. Fauci says he has hope a vaccine will be found, and that it’s important to trust scientists whose job it is to seek the truth through hard work, the scientific process and ingenuity.

Focus Questions

  1. What did you learn about the coronavirus that you did not know before?
  2. Why does the government have departments such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and employ scientists like Dr. Fauci?
  3. What role do young people play in fighting the coronavirus pandemic?
  4. What question would you most like to ask Dr. Fauci? Why?

Media Literacy: BrainPop and PBS NewsHour Comparison

  1. Dr. Fauci has appeared on many news programs regarding his role as key advisor in the coronavirus pandemic. Why do you think Dr. Fauci was particularly interested in doing an interview with BrainPop?
  2. What were some similarities and differences between the BrainPop and NewsHour interviews?

If there is time: Choose one of the following classroom resources to learn more about the subject of coronavirus.

Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Extra.

PBS NewsHour Classroom
PBS NewsHour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of NewsHour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
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