Classroom Questions

Questions for ‘COVID-19 can infect kids — and risks sickening some severely’

masked kids in a classroom

As kids return to classrooms, concerns grow about how to keep them safe from the coronavirus, especially its new, super-infectious delta variant.

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By Science News Explores

To accompany “COVID-19 can infect kids — and risks sickening some severely”

SCIENCE

Before Reading:

1.  Kids 12 and up can get the COVID-19 vaccine. Those who are younger cannot, at least not yet. Why has approval for COVID-19 vaccines been taking longer for children than for adults?

2.  Do you know anyone who has gotten COVID-19? Were any children? If so, how serious were their impacts?

During Reading:

1.  According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, how many U.S. kids have gotten COVID-19 since mid-July 2021?

2.  Why does Andrew Pavia say: “It drives me crazy to hear over and over again that the virus [that causes COVID-10] is not serious for children”?

3.  How many U.S. kids have become infected with the new coronavirus since January 2020? How many of them died?

4.  What has been the rate of flu deaths among U.S. children in recent years?  

5.  What share of U.S. hospitalizations for COVID-19 are children? Which of the infected children are more likely to need hospitalizations, according to the story?

6.  What is MIS-C and why is it worrisome? Who can develop this condition and which population groups are more likely to develop it?

7.  What is long COVID? Why does Roberta DeBiasi argue that even seemingly mild cases of it “have an impact on your quality of life.”

8.  Has the delta variant of the coronavirus changed COVID-19 in kids?

After Reading:

1.  What three new things did you learn from this article?

2.  What measures have you and your family taken to limit your risk of getting COVID-19? What measures has your school taken? Do you feel safe with these measures? If not, are there additional steps that you or your school might take, based on what you have read?