Why I Chose The Polio Vaccine And How It Relates To The Theme
I chose to research Polio for my NHD project this year because because I read "small steps" in 5th grade and since then it had been one of my favorite books. Small steps is a first hand account of a girl my age who developed polio an fought it. After reading small steps I always had a specific interest in the disease. Then when I heard that the NHD topic was to be turning points I was especially intrigued because the development of the polio vaccine definitely was a turning point and changed the way people lived. Having my topic as polio let me explore something that I was truly interested in, which is not always common for school projects. It definetly relates to the NHD theme because the development of the polio vaccine changed many people's lives. Polio was a horrific disease that caused many people to live in fear. Contracting the disease could lead to paralyzation or even death. People seldom let their kids out of the house besides to go to school out of fear that their children would contract the disease. In the early 1900's when many kids were becoming ill with polio, the country was in turmoil. After the vaccine was developed, people felt more secure and their lives changed. My topic relates to the NHD theme because there is a clear difference between life before the polio vaccine was developed and life afterward.