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Episode 2 Winners 1997
solution: smallpox
Click on a name to see their explanations below.
Individual Winners
John Chibbaro
Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest
grade: 12
Kelly Younge
Mayo High School
grade: 12
Tammie Sprott
Pine Tree
grade: 9
Peter Austin Duchan
Staples High School
grade: 9
Mariangela Lisanti
Staples High School
grade: 9
Remember, if you are not on this list but you did get the answer right, there are still many chances to win. We are choosing someone, from all the correct answers from all 3 episodes, to be awarded an individual grand prize of $250. The more correct answers, the better your chances. Find out at the end to see if you are the winner of the individual grand prize: $250!
Individual entry prizes include Genentech posters,
T-shirts and bookmarks. We'll be in touch with you guys to award your prizes.
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Classroom Winners
Ms Sams Period 3
John P. Stevens
grade: 10
Elliott's 9-10th grade Biology Honors class
Mayo High School
grade: 9th/10th
Period 7 Human Biology Class
Presque Isle (Maine) High School
grade: 11th and 12th
Ms. Sams Period 1
John P. Stevens High School
grade: 10
Period 5 Human Biology Class
Presque Isle High School
grade: 11th and 12th
Remember, if you are not on this list but you did get the answer right, there are still many chances to win. We are choosing a class, from all the classes with correct answers from all 3 episodes, to be awarded a classroom grand prize of $1,000. The more correct answers, the better your chances. Find out at the end to see if your classroom is the winner of the classroom grand prize: $1,000!
Classroom entry prizes include a
Genentech T-shirt, mousepad and poster and a class
set of "DNA Fingerprint" bookmarks. We'll be in touch with you guys to award your prizes.
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Explanations
John Chibbaro
Northern Valley Regional High School at Demarest
grade: 12
explanation: All of the subjects display common symptoms of smallpox. Plus, Mr. Yates, a man previously infected
as he already had a pockmarked face) was chosen to care for the people in the tent. Some who died in the tent were buried, yet the four without graves were burned, a common practice to eliminate dead smallpox victims.
Kelly Younge
Mayo High School
grade: 9
explanation: The reason that I suspect
the disease was smallpox
is that
1) Sarah Byers was
examined by the doctor
(forearms) and therefore
had already had small pox
and then let
into the quarantine tent,
(2) Yates had the "pock
marked" face so he was a
"logical"
first choice to help with
Mr. Harper,
3) Mr. Tabot
came down with a fever
after exchanging garments
with a man who had died
from fever.
small pox is
spread by contact with
clothing)
The Four Without Graves
are Harper, Mother, Smith
and Carlotto because they
were all burned and not
buried. The only person
we know anything about
is Harper, because Perditta's
diary says that Mr. Yates
was an obvious choice to
go into the quarantine with
Harper, most likely because
he had already had Small
Pox
pock marked face)
So! We know that Harper
had Small Pox and there
fore, we assume that the rest
of the people also had it
because there were no
distinguishing differences
mention in their symtoms.
About Mr. Pierce:
Mr. Pierce was not included
in this mystery most likely
because he had some other
disease than Small Pox
because his disease unknown
to the Center for Disease
and Prevention and he was
getting well from it.
Since mother got sick and
there was no evidence she
had had Small Pox, and
Yates and Sarah didn't
get sick and they had had
Small Pox, the only choice
for disease is Small Pox. The
reason I think it's not the
plague is because Sarah
Byers and Yates didn't show
any signs of it.
Tammie Sprott
Pine Tree
grade: 9
explanation: It must have been an acute contagios disease, or the people
would not have died so quickly from being arround each
other. All of the people that died from it were in contact
with each other and each other's belongings. They all had a
high fever which abated fairly quickly. Everyone who got it
died. This was before 1895, so they would not have been
vacinated yet. It could not have been plague because there
were no rats mentioned, and fleas cannot live that far
north. It could not have been lead poisening because lead
poisoning is not contageous. It could not have been
Antimony poisoning, because the people administering the medicine
would not have contracted the disease. It was most likely
not cowpox, for cowpox is usually not deadly. It was most
likely not botulism, because it is not contageous.
Peter Austin Duchan
Staples High School
grade: 9
explanation: I think my answer is correct for many reasons.
First of all, in Perdita's journal, she mentions that many gifts were
given at Christmas. Smallpox can be contracted by coming in contact
with someone who has this diseases belongings. Sarah Byers gave a pair
of gloves to Mr. Yates, who got pocks all over his face. Then he was
placed in the care of the quarentine tent and then Sarah wanted to join
him and her only ticket in were the pocks covering her forearms--also a
symptom of smallpox. Tabot also took the blankets of one who had
alledgedly died of a fever--another symptom of smallpox. Tabot now came
in contact with the virus. Mr. Dermot also gave away many coats. Also,
one man had a high fever that went away and this is a symptom of the
smallpox. This disease is also still in existence, though it is
contained in vials in deep freeze.
Mariangela Lisanti
Staples High School
grade: 9
explanation: The evidence indicates that smallpox was the
reason that the four without graves died. The first condition of
smallpox is a very high fever, and all of the four people had this
symptom. The fever is supposed to go away before one gets rashes.
Harper had had this fever pattern, as directly stated in the doctor's
and Perdita's diaries, before getting the rashes. The sentence,
"...Horror today written on the face of poor Mr. Harper..." proves that
this seaman did get the rashes. Perdita could not talk to her mother
when the wind blew because smallpox is very contagious and it was
thought that the wind spread the germs. The purpose of the cloth that
Perdita's mother wore over her face was to hide the rash caused by
smallpox.
This rash begins in the face and later progresses to the
chest, arms, and legs.) One knows that Mr. Yates had had smallpox
becasue Perdita describes his, "...pockmarked face..." Obviously, the
disease had been within the camp before, and!! it could have easily
spread being that it is a contagious viral disease. Lastly, there was a
debate as to whether Mr. Yates or Mr. Jakkelson should be sent into the
quarantine camp. Mr. Yates had had smallpox, and Mr. Jakkelson had been
inoculated with cowpox. Because both these men were immune to the
disease and could both go into the quarentine camp, some of the people
in the quarantine camp were obviously infected with this disease. As
one can see, the evidence indicates that the four that died without
graves were infected with smallpox.
Ms Sams Period 3
John P. Stevens
grade: 10
explanation: Our class does not think it is lead poisoning
because we had found no apparent symptoms that may indicate it to be
lead poisoning. We believe it is not botulism because no one in the
quarentine tent had been parylized, and most probably the people in the
tent were suffering from the same disease as the people who had already
died. We do not think it is antimony poisoning because the disease did
not spread through contact. It wasn't cowpox because they did not have
any cattle nor was it a fatal disease. It wasn't the pneumonic plague
because a rash is not one of the symptoms. We think it could be smallpox
because it is a fatal disease, they had pock marks on there face, it is
a highly contagious disease, there were empty bottles of James Powder in
the trash and a fever is one of the symptoms. And finally, because Sarah
and Mr. Yates had the pock marks on there bodies.
Elliott's 9-10th grade Biology Honors class
Mayo High School
grade: 9th/10th
explanation: They all died of smallpox. Mr. Tabot had
garments from a previous man who had died of the fever. Sarah Byers had
marks on her forearms, showing that she had had cowpox before and
therefore was immune to smallpox. Mr. Yates was the "obvious" choice to
go into quarantine with Mr. Harper because he had already had smallpox,
evident by his pockmarked face. Mr. Harper, therefore, must have had
smallpox. We don't know much about Mr. Carlotto and Mr. Smith, but we
do know that Mr. Pierce had a disease unknown to the Center for Disease
and Prevention. If Pierce had had smallpox, the Center for Disease and
Prevention would have recognized it. Perdita's mother covered her face
when she spoke with Perdita, mimicking pnuemonic plague, but then Mr.
Yates and Ms. Byers would have shown symptoms of the plague. The lead
and mercury levels in the samples were from Jakkelson handing out
medications everyday and the poorly soldered tin cans. They burned the
bodies to prevent further disease.
Period 7 Human Biology Class
Presque Isle (Maine) High School
grade: 11th and 12th
explanation: All indications point to smallpox as the killer
of the "four without graves." Their bodies were burned, indicating that
they probably had something contagious. That would narrow it to cowpox,
smallpox, plague and possibly an unknown disease. Cowpox is not
generally fatal. The victims did not show the symptoms of the extremely
contagious disease, pneumonic plague. And this disease probably would
have affected many more than the four. An unknown disease, apparently
originating from the meteorite, seems unlikely as some in the tent where
the meteorite was kept did not have any disease. This leaves smallpox
as the most likely cause. Yates and Byers, who were taking care of the
victims in the quarantine tent, had pock marks on their bodies,
indicating a probable immunity to smallpox. Lead and antimony poisoning
were ruled out because the levels in the dead that were tested were not
in toxic amounts. Botulism wasn't the cause of death because the ashes
provided evidence that they cooked their food which would have destroyed
the toxin.
Ms. Sams Period 1
John P. Stevens High School
grade: 10
explanation: Smallpox - highly contageous, gifts exchanged could have
carried disease, Mr. Yates had pocked face and thought he
should care for ill. Mother covered face - pimples start on
face.
NOT:
Antimony - No vomiting or scaley skin
Botulism - Did not have paralysis
Lead - Not high enough to be fatal
Cowpox - Not fatal
Pneumonic Plague - spread through air - everyone would have
been exposed and become ill.
Period 5 Human Biology Class
Presque Isle High School
grade: 11th and 12th
explanation: The victims could not have died from lead or
antimony poisoning since the tests showed the level in their bodies was
nowhere near a fatal amount. Botulism is impossible because they had
fire available to heat their canned food and this would destroy the
toxin. Cowpox is a threat to those who milk cows and there were no cows
around. The plague is not the cause because it is highly contafious and
many more would have had it. Smallpox is the cause of the deaths.
Sarah and Yates were allowed to take care of those in the quarantine
tent because they were immune to smallpox. Yates had a pockmarked face
and Sarah was allowed to go into the tent after her arms were examined.
They must have shown evidence of pock marks, too.
An Access Excellence Science Mystery sponsored by Genentech, Inc.
Copyright © 1997 Genentech, Inc.; all rights reserved.
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