What can the Black Death teach us about ecosystems? How did one contaminated water pump change modern medicine? Why are antibiotic-resistant bacteria one of the greatest challenges to global health today?

In this fascinating - and occasionally macabre - biology course, students discover biology through the lens of history's most significant disease outbreaks. Rather than memorizing isolated facts, students investigate how cells, pathogens, the immune system, ecosystems, and evolution interact to shape the spread of disease and influence human history.

Designed around systems thinking, this course helps students make meaningful connections across biology while developing critical thinking and scientific inquiry skills through hands-on learning experiences using common household materials.

Because the course examines real historical epidemics and medical discoveries, students will encounter descriptions of infectious diseases, early surgical practices, and the scientific breakthroughs that transformed medicine. All material is presented from a scientific and historical perspective, but a level of maturity is recommended.

By the end of the course, students will understand that disease is far more than a medical problem - it is a biological, ecological, evolutionary, and social phenomenon that reveals how deeply connected our world truly is.

Certificate of Completion is included with the program.