Non-fiction Reading Response (3- HW #1)

http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/2012/12/deadly-virus-ebola-can-spread-through-the-air-from-pigs-to-monkeys/

Part 1-Summary:

This article is called "Ebola in the Air," and it's written by Stephen Ornes. It is about how a group of Canadian scientists did an experiment that shows that the Ebola Virus can spread through the air: "Previously, researchers thought animals had to touch to pass along the virus, which has been blamed for the deaths of more than 1,500 people." (Ornes 1) In the experiment that they conducted, researchers infected six piglets with the Ebola virus. The scientists put the infected pigs in a room with four healthy monkeys that didn’t have the virus. A barrier separated the animals, so they couldn’t touch each other. After around two weeks though, all four monkeys became infected. The author shows us that there may be some proof that the Ebola virus is becoming airborne.


Part 2-Analysis:

The author wrote this article to educate people and other scientists and to warn them that Ebola might be airborne. I think this is a very important and useful piece of information to scientists! The scientists have to warn everyone and tell them that Ebola can now spread through the air, because many people can become infected. The scientists have to find a new vaccine to cure the infected people, because the virus has mutated.
One of the scientists that worked on the experiment says that it is "definitely not an efficient route of transmission" (Ornes 1). I feel like the author should've included anonymous peoples opinions on the news that Ebola might be airborne. That would've given some insight on how people will react. I like how the author kind of "dumbed the article down" enough that the average reader can understand all of the words, and can understand whats going on.


Part 3-Conclusion:

This article has made me think about what would happen if the world did get infected by a disease that went airborne. That would be so horrible! We would have to wear gas masks wherever we went. How would we purify the air and get rid of the disease? This article has made me appreciate science and all of the medicine that scientists have discovered. Without them, we would die from a tiny cold or fever.