Combining systems
Total suggested time: 50 minutes
The United States needs a plan for aggregating the results of each state’s system for detecting the spread of the Z virus, and the goal of this exercise is for your class to figure out how to collect that data.
Suggested time: 30 minutes
As a class, use the sketches from each political division to sketch out a new system: a plan for how the federal government should aggregate this data from the state level to the national level.
FOR INSTRUCTORS: Whether students used digital or physical sketches, find a way to show as many of their individual diagrams to the whole class (post them on the board, combine them in a Google slide etc.) to aid in sketching the new, expanded system.
As you work, consider the following questions as a class:
- How do the inputs and outputs of your systems differ?
- How often are you collecting the data? Daily? Weekly?
- How do the systems you set up individually fit together?
- What changes do you need to make for them to be compatible?
Class discussion: Considering complexity
Suggested time: 20 minutes
After you’ve created a plan, answer the following discussion questions as a class:
- What details and measurements are lost when comparing state to state?
- How trustworthy is the data aggregated at the highest level?
- How should you share the data publicly?
- We only dealt with two divisions of the political system: state and federal governments. How might the system get more complex if we added in city and county governments?