The Invisible Shield

This 4-part PBS series tells the story of public health and epidemiology through the lens of the pandemic.

THE INVISIBLE SHIELD at TPT

The Invisible Shield, a four-part documentary series, reveals a little-known truth: that public health saved your life today and you probably don’t even know it. But while public health makes modern life possible, the work itself is often underfunded, undervalued, and misunderstood.

1. THE OLD PLAYBOOK at TPT

History repeats itself. It’s not the first time the world has had to deal with a pandemic, and the push highlights how the public health sector had to go back to work.

2. FOLLOW THE DATA at TPT

Data has been an essential public health tool since at least the seventeenth century. Helping the world understand and mitigate the spread of disease, data has helped us make sense of the threats to our collective health.

3. INOCULATION & INEQUITY at TPT

Public health officials face disinformation, skepticism of science, and distrust in government as they begin vaccinating the public against COVID. Historical injustices and inequities lead to apprehension, forcing public health to refine its approach.

4. THE NEW PLAYBOOK at TPT

With all the challenges the public health sector faces, and life expectancy declining, how will a committed next generation of public health workers going overcome these obstacles?

Biology lives here

As I built my Lessons of Phyz library over the years, I liked working in groovy biology content whenever I could.

As mentioned in the "Chemistry: we've got it" post below, physics teachers are spoiled with an abundance of course-covering video series. Chemistry doesn't seem to have such a thing, nor have I found one for biology.

But here's the biology-related documentaries I have found.

Biology at The Lessons of Phyz on Teachers Pay Teachers

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak

Netflix · 2020

In Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak, we meet the heroes on the front lines of the battle against influenza and learn about their efforts to stop the next global outbreak.

Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak on Teachers Pay Teachers

E P I S O D E S

1. IT HUNTS US 
In this introduction to life on the front lines, doctors in the U.S. and Asia battle the flu, and researchers race to develop a universal vaccine.

2. PANDEMIC IS NOW 
Vaccine debates rage while health-care workers inoculate against the Ebola virus in Congo and influenza in detainee camps at the U.S.—Mexico border.

3. SEEK, DON’T HIDE 
Worldwide, scientists test animals and their handlers for emerging viruses. In the U.S. and India, doctors work long hours caring for flu patients.