Solve the Outbreak vs Virtual Labs

Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to get clues and analyze data to solve the outbreak and save lives! In this fun app, you get to be a Disease Detective. Do you quarantine the village? Interview people who are sick? Run more lab tests? The better your answers, the higher your score - and the quicker you’ll climb the ranks to become a decorated Disease Detective. In level 1, you’ll start as a Trainee and earn badges by solving scenarios — with the goal of earning the top rank: Disease Detective. Unlock Level 2 by mastering all the 12 outbreaks of Level 1. Then earn honors by solving new and more challenging scenarios. Earn recognitions like Surveillance and Treatment Honors. New outbreaks happen every day and CDC's Disease Detectives are on the front lines — working 24/7 to save lives and protect people. When a new outbreak occurs, Disease Detectives are sent in to figure out how the outbreak started before it spreads further. In this app, you'll also: • Learn about diseases and outbreaks in an engaging way. • See how CDC's Disease Detectives save lives around the world. • Have the option to post your scores on Facebook or Twitter and challenge your friends to play!

Light your Bunsen burner! Test yogurt for contamination in a virtual lab, and judge whether the bacteria you find are harmful or beneficial. Virtual Labs interactive food science modules train high school and college students in basic laboratory techniques. Learn how to use Gram staining to differentiate beneficial bacteria from dangerous bacteria in food samples. Working in the virtual lab of a dairy processing plant, you analyze yogurt samples and follow step-by-step lab procedures to test for Salmonella and E. coli. Sterilize your inoculation loop, and prepare your slide, then view the sample under a microscope and observe the differences in appearance between beneficial bacteria and harmful bacteria. Virtual Labs: Gram Staining familiarizes the user with food science lab equipment and teaches standard techniques for this specific procedure. The interactive initially guides the user through each step of the lab process; then users prepare Gram stain slides on their own to find out for certain whether this batch of yogurt is safe. This work was supported by USDA CSREES and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture under two Higher Education Challenge Grant projects: 2008-38411-19055 and 2011-38411-30625. © 2008-2016 NMSU Board of Regents. Collaborating universities South Dakota State University, North Dakota State University and New Mexico State University are all equal opportunity/affirmative action employers and educators.