A classroom network game for simulating epidemics

This classroom activity was developed to demonstrate how infectious diseases spread through contact networks and how simple models can be used to study epidemics. The lesson is adaptable for courses in biology, health, or mathematics for students ages 10 or older and can be extended to cover more advanced concepts such as contact tracing or simulation modeling with computers. The activity is designed to resemble an agent-based simulation of the susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model, where the students play the role of the individual agents. Students play a “high five game,” in which students mingle with one another and track their contacts on a notecard. One student is secretly designated as infectious, and each student who comes in contact with an infected classmate also becomes infectious, simulating transmission through contact. Afterward, students graph the number of infectious classmates over time and discuss how the epidemic curve reflects the SIR rules and their contact network. Next, students propose modifications to the game, such as vaccination. The class selects a new rule to add to the game and creates a hypothesis for how the game’s outcome will change. The students play the game again with modified rules. Afterward, students compare the two versions of the game and discuss how new conditions led to new outcomes. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to explain the rules of the SIR model; describe how diseases spread through contact networks; interpret epidemic curves; and design and test hypotheses in a simulation model.