At the completion of the unit, students will have a solid understanding of the life cycle and reproduction (replication) of viruses. Students will apply art methods to design their own CD cover for their album relating to viruses. This will be done using a publishing program, such as Pagemaker or Print Shop (even Kid Pix can be used, for the younger audiences) Prior to this lesson, students have both learned about viruses on a web site and created lyrics to a song about the life cycle of viruses.

THE INTERDEPENDENCE OF ORGANISMS The atoms and molecules on the earth cycle among the living and nonliving components of the biosphere. Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, from photosynthetic organisms to herbivores to carnivores and decomposers. Organisms both cooperate and compete in ecosystems. The interrelationships and interdependencies of these organisms may generate ecosystems that are stable for hundreds or thousands of years. Living organisms have the capacity to produce populations of infinite size, but environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension has profound effects on the interactions between organisms. Human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected.

Students should be fairly comfortable with computer basics such as mouse use, printing and saving their work. If is helpful (and less stressful for the teacher) if they have some background in creating artwork on the computer in programs such as Print Shop Deluxe, Kid Pix or Photoshop. However, it is not absolutely necessary. After all, they have to learn somtime.

In this final lesson within the unit, students will be creating an album cover to accompany the song they wrote in the previous lesson. Allow students to bring CD covers from home (or view them on the web) to use as models. Encourage them to create the CD cover to scale - this is good practice. Make sure that students tie the name of their album and the graphics involved into the essential learning about viruses. This last unit typically takes my students the longest (hence a 4 hour time frame) as many students have little to no experience using a desktop publishing/graphics program. This lesson is not for the faint at heart, or the instructor that is a first time computer user. I would not recommend this as your first computer class assignment. It can be taxing to get the kids to create a quality product. If you are short on time, see the Alt. assessment below for the "low tech" version.

The requirements of the project when done in my class are as follows: - Scale must be that of real life CD cover - Title: Must relate to Viruses - Graphics: Must relate to Viruses - Use of color - Creativity

The handout below is a text version of the one I use in class. It encompasses all 3 lessons within this unit. Viva Las Virus! "Well, since my baby kissed me, I found a new place to dwell It's home in bed, sick with the flu, It's Virus Hotel…" Now that's what I call singing the blues! This poor guy has got it bad, but before we can help him out, we need to learn just a bit more about viruses and just what they do. Take a look at the article located at the following web site: http://www.homeworkcentral.com/files.htp?fileid=35695&use=hc Now that you're an expert on viruses, and how they attack, we need to help out The King on his road to recovery. Take a minute to write the chorus, 2nd, 3rd and 4th verses to "Victim of a Virus", which The King started above. In your #1 Smash Hit, make sure to include such things as methods of virus transmission, how to avoid getting a virus, how you can get rid of them and what illnesses virus' can cause, along with other facts you think your loyal fans should know about. Once you are done there, take the information and design an album cover and title for your new CD, making sure to diagram your star, the virus! Good Luck, Nate the Great Station Manager WSIK, FM 99

Computers with Internet Access Desktop publishing/graphics program (eg. Print Shop Deluxe, Kid Pix, Adobe Pagemaker) Color Printer A patient teacher with familiarity with both computers and the program being used.