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Hi, my name is Helena,
and I'm a public health scientist.
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This means I study
how diseases spread in populations.
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What I love about public health
is that it brings together
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my love for computer science and data
to make an impact on people
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in a positive way.
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Scientists use the power of
computer science all the time.
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We use computer simulations
to understand the spread of new viruses.
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A simulation is a computer model
of a process or a system.
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Simulations are a great way
to learn things
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that can be hard
to observe in the real world.
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They help scientists
solve problems and test
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new ideas safely and efficiently.
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This graph represents
the amount of people infected.
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In this case,
we want to flatten the curve.
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Flattening the curve means that we slow
the rate of people getting sick.
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That buys health professionals
more time to get people vaccinated
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and to save more lives.
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We also
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want to help scientists
and doctors get relevant data
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as they collaborate to create vaccines
and work on new treatments.
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In today's lesson, we'll visit
a fictional place called Monster Town,
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where a virus outbreak
is about to happen.
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We'll be using computer science
to understand
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how quickly a virus can spread
and what can be done to slow it down
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so that all the monsters can get healthy
again.
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We'll ask the questions
How quickly will the virus spread?
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What can we and Dr.
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Monster do to combat and contain
the virus?
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You'll experiment with a
few different interventions
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like masks, crowds and vaccines.
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You might already know the answers,
but take a closer look.
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Run your simulation multiple times.
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What do you notice?
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