What Is It

1. Is there is a common reason for the absences? Explain.

Yes, I feel that the common reason for the high absences in the middle schools is consistent with health issues. Principal Samantha Perez, from Truman Middle School wrote a letter to the school director about a health outbreak at her school on May 20th, the band director informed her that one-third of his students were absent. I feel that since it was mentioned specifically in May, the band was really affected in two schools (Truman and Jackson Middle school) it seems between the weeks of May 18th – 25th it was a large rise in absent in students missing school. From the researched I noticed that through the announcements, on May 23rd it was an annual Memorial Day picnic which contains food that might have been contaminated.

2. Come up with two testable, clear hypotheses about what you think is behind the absences. Be sure to base your hypotheses on the evidence you have obtained (e.g., Health Department Restaurant Inspections) and be thorough in your explanation of who, what, why, when, and how to support your hypotheses.

The first question or testable that I will ask is, “when did the students become sick in the middle schools?” As we looked on the charts, we noticed that it started towards the end of April or early May according to the graph provider to us from the community health department. For my hypotheses about this testable question, I can state the reason for this is because of the change of weather which can resort in colds, fevers, body aches, etc.

The second question or testable that I will ask is, “why in the end of May was it a spike in absences of students?” As was stated by the health department, from inspecting the local restaurants, two of the restaurants in the community failed safety violations because of the following: missing kitchen panels, exposed wiring, dirty shelves in walk in freezer, thermometers not being used properly, and dirty cleaning towels. For my hypotheses about...