As states move to relax restrictions intended to fight the coronavirus pandemic, even the simplest outdoor activities seem fraught with a thousand questions and calculations. Is it safe to stroll on the beach? How about a picnic in the park? Or coffee with a friend at an outdoor table?
In this lesson, you will learn about the risks in going outdoors again and the precautions you can take to minimize them. In a Going Further activity, you will design a poster or public service announcement to inform others.
Warm Up
Take a moment to study the graph below of the level of human contact in various social spaces from this week’s “What’s Going On in This Graph?” feature. Then, respond to the following questions:
What do you notice? If you make a claim, tell us what you noticed that supports your claim.
What do you wonder? What are you curious about that comes from what you notice in the graph?
Feel free to share your responses on our What’s Going On in This Graph? page, which already has over 130 responses from teenagers.
Questions for Writing and Discussion
Read the featured article, then answer the following questions:
1. What is the “good news” from a growing consensus among experts about going outdoors? On the other hand, what activities do experts express particular caution toward? Are you surprised by either?
2. The authors state that the different approaches taken by states to reopen have left many Americans “bewildered about what is safe behavior outside.” What examples from the article best support this claim? How accurately does the statement characterize your own understanding of what is safe and what is not? Would you say that you are largely bewildered or confused?
3. What is the ideal way to socialize, according to the article? What precautions can reduce your risk if you cannot meet that ideal?
4. What is viral load? Why is it essential to understanding why transmission rates are lower outdoors than indoors?
5. Why are pools and beaches considered areas of risk even if pool water, fresh water in a lake or river, or seawater exposure would be extremely low transmission risk?
6. What advice does the article provide about what to do if you encounter someone too close to you and they are not wearing a mask? Do you find it useful?
7. The article concludes:
Another worry: Because it can take two weeks for symptoms to appear after a person is infected, there is no way to know if you’re going to the beach or the park in the midst of an invisible local outbreak, experts said. It’s yet another reason to take precautions.
“If we now go back to the old normal and don’t follow the social distancing strategy anymore, it’s like a ticking time bomb,” said Peter Jüni, an epidemiologist at the University of Toronto and St. Michael’s Hospital. “You never know where it blows up and when.”
Do you agree with Peter Jüni? Will you continue to practice social distancing now that states are easing restrictions? How concerned are you about getting the virus now that states are reopening?
8. What did you learn from the article? What questions still remain about catching the virus outdoors? Which outdoor spaces and activities described in the graph and the article are you most likely to visit or engage in now that states are easing restrictions? Which will you still avoid? Explain why.
Going Further
Option 1: Inform Others
How you can inform others about what you have learned from the article?
Who would be your target audience — teenagers, older adults or the general public? What message do you want to convey? What, specifically, does your audience need to know about the risks and recommended precautions for going outdoors again? What kind of language, images and graphics will grab their attention?
Here are two creative options you might try:
You might use information from the article or your own research to create a poster. You might use Canva or another design program to produce your designs. Use open-source images or create graphics that help get your point across. Be sure to cite all the sources you use. Then share what you made via social media or with peers at your school.
Or you can create a public service announcement using still photographs from this article, or from your own research, along with text, statistics and music. You might consider storyboarding your public service announcement, and if you have time, record, edit and share it with your class and your school. Scholastic provides some useful tips and a sample P.S.A. storyboard.
Option 2: Research a Question Further
The authors write that “even the simplest outdoor activities seem fraught with a thousand questions and calculations.” What questions do you still have?
Choose a question about the risks of transmission outdoors to research further.
You might start your research with the Times Coronavirus Topics page, or these Times articles:
Or use these online government resources:
