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AIDS Lab
By John Vose
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My school does an AIDS lab demonstration in conjunction with our puberty instruction. It goes like this.Prepare a small cup for each student. All of the cups, but one, have plain water in them. The one cup has a strong | solution of borax in water. Tell the students that the cups are a model representing their body fluids. Tell them that one or more of them has a chemical that represents the "AIDS virus", HIV. Ask them to guess how many. Explain the risk behaviors involved in spreading HIV, i.e. sexual activity and mixing of blood with infected persons. Have them represent these behaviors by mixing |
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the contents of their own cup with each of 4-5 other students by pouring the contents of the cups back and forth.Announce that the contents of the cups have become a model for a blood test for HIV. Put a drop or two of phenolphthalein (a base indicator) into each cup. Any of the cups that have borax in them will turn bright purple. There should be 8-12 "positive" tests. Ask them again how many cups had the chemical to begin with, then tell them that there was only one. Explain that one case of HIV turned into two, two into four, four into eight, and so on. This usually opens students eyes to the risks involved in those risk behaviors. It is also a fun activity. John
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