The Virus Behind COVID-19

• Activate students’ prior knowledge and surface questions by creating a K/W/L chart (what I know, what I want to know, and what I learned) about COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2. Given that this is a deeply relevant topic that students have personally lived through, they are likely to know many facts about this virus but may also be harboring misconceptions that can be identified. Keep in mind that students may have traumatic or sensitive experiences related to COVID-19, such as the loss of a family member, so you may want to tell students in advance that you will be discussing this or allow them to complete the K section of the chart outside of class.

• Use an approach similar to that outlined in the HHMI BioInteractive resource Using Images as Phenomena.
  • Separate the images to create a gallery with different stations throughout the room (or on different slides in a virtual slide deck). Students should rotate from image to image with a pack of sticky notes, adding questions or completing the stems “I wonder . . .,” “I notice . . .,” and/or “It reminds me of . . .”
  • Students should revisit the image in which they are most interested to form a working group. This new group can summarize the existing questions, and pose “Could it be . . .?” predictions to explain some of them. This activity can be extended by having the group research potential explanations for the questions.
  • For a larger class, provide students with a deck of all images and give them time to write their questions/responses and then share them with a neighbor. These can be reported out to the rest of the class using an audience response system or by having a variety of students share their responses.

• Knowledge-building extension: Use the Biology of SARS-CoV-2 resource from HHMI BioInteractive, including four animations about the structure, replication, evolution, and treatment of the virus, along with associated worksheets.

   

• Provide students with a subset of the images, printed on individual cards and shuffled into random order. Ask students to sort them into the order they expect for the processes of infection, replication, and export of virus molecules. This sorting can be done before students have received details on each image and then revised after additional knowledge has been built.

   

• Drawing from observation is a useful way to help students identify key details in an image. Have them choose some images from the narrative to depict in a comic strip, telling a story about infection or cellular damage by SARS-CoV-2.

   

• Use a jigsaw strategy. Place students in “expert groups,” with each group assigned one or two of the images from the narrative. Each group should research their assigned image(s), labeling any key features and using reliable web sources to learn more about the events or structures shown. Then reshuffle the students into new groups, each with at least one member from every expert group. Students should present to their new group about their assigned image(s), and the group as a whole should work together to synthesize the information they’ve learned and to generate a cohesive story about the infection of human cells by SARS-CoV-2.

• First, have students explore how similar images would be presented within a primary research article by providing some models such as Erickson et. al 2023, Qu et. al 2024, or Zhang et al. 2023. Students should make observations about what kinds of descriptions and statements are contained within the captions of these figures. Then ask students to write journal-article–style figure captions for each of the images included in the narrative. Alternatively, direct students to write a narration script for one or more of the videos.  

Possible assessment/discussion questions:

• Throughout the global pandemic, the original SARS-CoV-2 genome has mutated extensively. Some of the notable strains of this virus include Omicron, Delta, and JN.1; these strains carry mutations in, among other locations, the spike proteins of the viral envelope. Why is the spike protein such a common target for selection of new mutations? Would you expect these mutations to result in an increase or decrease in binding affinity to the human ACE2 receptor? Explain your answer.  
• Based on what you know about nucleic acids, explain why the SARS-CoV-2 genome might be particularly susceptible to mutation.
• What similarities and differences do you notice between the SARS-CoV-2 synthesis and secretion pathway and the one cells normally use to secrete their own proteins?