Project ExCITE: Exploring the Challenge of Integrating Technology and Education
A Look at the Growing Problem of Lyme Disease
For the second year Gordon Middle School is participating in Project ExCITE. The program, run in conjunction with Lincoln University, aims to reinvigorate public education at the middle school level by using science and technology as catalysts.
Gordon's focus in the project is to research and present information on Lyme Disease - a growing problem in Chester County. The program is funded by NASA and includes three schools, one in Mississippi and two more in California.
This year Gordon students and faculty involved in the program ran a Science Fair for all students at Gordon. Officials from Lincoln and the Chester County Health Department assisted and helped give presentations on the Internet, the Lewis Satellite, environmental use of the microscope, Lyme Disease, the importance of handwashing to kill germs and aerial maps of the Coatesville area.
Gordon students, supervised by Project Manager Mrs. Pat Maye, created a pamphlet in hopes of informing all elementary school students in the Coatesville Area School District on the dangers of Lyme Disease. Information from this pamphlet appears below this section.
Last year Gordon gave a slide presentation at Lincoln, providing handouts, pictures and other key information about Lyme Disease. This year Gordon hopes to present its information to the Chester County Commissioners.
Project ExCITE, which began in the summer of 1995, addresses the issue of literacy in science and mathematics, one of the eight general themes in "Goals 2000," by targeting young men and women at an age when many begin to recognize the challenges inherent in these critical subjects. Also involved locally is Penn's Grove Middle School in the Oxford School District. Penn's Grove is researching the serpentine barrens grasses in Nottingham Park and cataloging area ponds for emergency fire truck usage. The program is part of the Lewis Schools of the Small Satellite Technology Initiative Educational Program.
To contact Project ExCITE at Gordon Middle School, e-mail:
Project Manager Pat Maye: Maye@lu.lincoln.edu
Archives Manager Kathy Barnes: Barnes@lu.lincoln.edu
For more information on Lyme Disease, access these websites:
Lyme Disease Information Resource
The following information was prepared by the Project ExCITE Team at Gordon Middle School:
What is Lyme Disease?
It is an infection that results from a tick bite. The infection is from by the Borrelia burgdorfi bacteria from the Ixodes scapularis species of tick, usually called a deer tick.
What does a deer tick look like?
See picture at top of page
What is the life cycle of the tick and which animals most often carry it?
From the egg bears the Larva, which either becomes the Nymph or is eaten by mice. The adult tick can infect a deer or a human.
How is Lyme Disease spread?
An infected tick must bite you. Ticks live in the woods, bushes, and tall grass.
What are the symptoms?
An infected person may develop a rash, stiff neck, fever, or have joint pain, headaches or tiredness. These symptoms can feel like having the flu.
How can it be prevented?
When outdoors in areas where ticks may live, wear light colored, long sleeved and legged clothes along with a hat and socks over the ends of the pants. Do regular tick checks of clothes and body. Ticks like warm, dark places on the body. Have an adult help check.
What to do if bitten...
Have an adult remove the tick with tweezers. Clean the area of the bite with antiseptic. Put the tick in a small container with some grass and have it tested for Lyme Disease.
For more information on Lyme Disease contact:
Chester County Health Dept. (610) 344-6490
Lyme Disease Community Coalition (610) 384-9622 fax: (610) 524-0624 e-mail: DUSE6@aol.com
The Lyme Care Center 800-842-5248
American Lyme Disease Foundation 800-876-LYME
National Lyme Disease Hotline 800-886-LYME
Lyme Disease Foundation 860-525-2000 e-mail: Lymefnd@aol.com
How to protect pets...
1. Use tick and flea insecticide
2. Brush the pet regularly
3. Examine the pet especially inside the ears, belly, tail, and legs
4. Rub against the grain of your pet's coat
5. If the pet is a dog, ask a veterinarian about the Lyme vaccine
What are the pet symptoms?
1. Lameness
2. Swollen joints
3. Painful joints
4. Lethargy
5. Fever
Project ExCITE Team:
Philip Assetto, Will Hochella, Billy Barnes, Thomas Houck, Darnice Bell, Jessica Maye, Megan Cowan, Scott Nugent, Archia Downs, Amanda Thomas, Kelly Graham, Jonathan Velazquez, Brandon Gwilliam, HeeWon Woo, Elaine Hines, Matt Young
The following handout was prepared by Gordon's Project ExCITE Team in 1995-96:
What is Lyme Disease?
Lyme Disease is an infection resulting from a tick bite.
Lyme Disease is caused by bacteria and small living creatures.
How is it Spread?
It is spread mainly from the bite of the deer tick. The tick is only about as large as the head of a pin.
Ticks live in the woods, on bushes and in tall grass.
The tick must bite you for 4-6 hours to give you the disease.
The tick must bite you. You cannot get Lyme Disease from a crawling tick.
You cannot get Lyme Disease from a person who has it.
What are the Symptoms?
A person who has been infected may develop a red rash.
This rash starts as a small spot that keeps getting bigger for days or even weeks.
The rash can be triangular, circular, or oval shaped.
The rash sometimes looks like a bull's eye. It looks like a red ring around a clear middle area.
Along with this rash, the person may get a headache, a stiff neck, a fever, hurt all over his/her body, or feel tired.
If you have any of these symptoms, tell an adult.
How Do you Prevent Tick Bites?
To prevent tick bites you should wear a hat, long pants tucked into your socks, and a sleeve shirt.
Wear light or white colored clothes so you can easily see a tick in your clothes.
If you wear shorts, wear long socks and spray yourself with tick repellent.
Use tick and flea insecticide on your pets.
Do a tick check at the end of the day. Look for ticks on your clothes and on your body.
Ticks like warm, dark places, so check at your hair line and under your armpits.
Have an adult check you also, in case you missed any.
What Do I Do If I Am Bitten?
If you are bitten do not try to remove the tick, go to an adult.
Have an adult remove the tick using tweezers.
The adult should grip the head of the tick and pull out firmly, do not pull out too fast.
Have an adult clean the area with antiseptic.
Put the tick into a small container with a few leaves of grass and have it tested for Lyme Disease.