This is one of those stories that approach urban myth status. We have not found corroborating evidence to prove the veracity of the story. Interestingly, Singapore is briefly featured in the story. If you have not heard of it, here’s a link to an online video.
To avoid giving out any spoilers here, we will only touch on the barest of background information. Regardless of how historically correct the story is, we shall focus on the lessons for our readers and students.
The story was set in 1950s Borneo where malaria ran rampant. Unfortunately, the solution was not as straightforward as planned and brought about many unforeseen consequences.
4 Lessons from the Story
- In Science, one of our favourite quotes is from Albert Einstein, “In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” We always stress to our students that there are gaps between textbook knowledge and field applications so it pays to get hands-on to have a holistic grasp of any phenomenon.
- Even with hands-on experience in a laboratory, the real world is often more complicated and involves interdependent variables not apparent in the lab. Here is where the known unknown and more importantly, the unknown unknown are going to waste the best laid plans.
- Malaria and plague are 2 “bad guys” in the story and they feature well in a biology lesson on diseases and their vectors.
- The chemical substance, DDT, was supposed to be Man’s saviour in the 1950s but it has since gained a nasty reputation which is rightly justified. DDT can fit into a class on organic chemistry and just as easily serves as a case study for ecosystems.
Teaching and Learning about Science in our Centre
In iMatter, we believe in experiential learning involving experimentation, hands-on work and the use of real world examples to reinforce the content we teach in class and what the students learn in school.
Click on the links below to learn more about our various Science Tuition Programmes.
- Primary School Science
- Lower Secondary School Science
- Upper Secondary School Chemistry
- Upper Secondary School Physics
- JC Chemistry
