TEACH
Episode 4 Discussion Worksheet
A printable worksheet for classrooms and study groups working through modeling, epidemics, and AI.
- Type
- Worksheet
- Difficulty
- All levels
- Length
- Printable
This worksheet turns the Episode 4 conversation with Professor Sandeep Juneja into a structured discussion. It suits a senior school or introductory university setting, and works for solo study too. Print it, or write your answers elsewhere.
KEY CONCEPTS
- Model
- Probability
- Operations research
- SIR model
- Reproduction number (R0)
- Exponential growth
- Signal vs noise
- Non-linearity
- Navier-Stokes equations
- Hype vs substance
WARM-UP: DEFINE IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS
One or two sentences each, without looking anything up.
What is a model, and what makes one good?
What does the reproduction number R0 measure, and why does the value 1 matter?
What is the difference between using a tool to study a problem and solving that problem?
DISCUSS
Bigger questions for a group. There are no single right answers.
During an outbreak, a model gives a wide range rather than one number. Is that more or less useful to a decision-maker? Argue both sides.
Why is early action in an epidemic so hard, given that the numbers look small at first? Connect your answer to exponential growth.
Take one recent AI headline. What was actually demonstrated, and what did the headline imply? Where is the gap?
Professor Juneja moved from mechanical engineering to operations research to modeling epidemics and climate. What skill carries across all of these?
APPLY IT
Take the ideas out of the episode and into the world.
Choose a real decision a city might face during an outbreak. Sketch what a model would need to include, and name one thing it should honestly leave uncertain.
Find a claim about AI, from an advert or article, and rewrite it so it states only what the evidence supports.
ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY
The most important thing I will remember from this episode is