1. Explore - Foundations of Viruses, Their Parts and Types

1.5 Virus Types: How Can We Classify Viruses?

Viruses can be grouped in different ways. For this unit, students focus on classifications that connect clearly to modeling and AR visualization:

• By genome type: DNA viruses (herpesvirus, etc.) vs. RNA viruses (influenza, etc.).​ (More: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7150055/) 
• By envelope: Enveloped (HIV, influenza, etc.) vs. non-enveloped (poliovirus, norovirus, etc.).​ More: https://virologyresearchservices.com/2022/05/22/enveloped-vs-non-enveloped-viruses/
• By shape: Helical (tobacco mosaic virus – for plants, etc.), icosahedral (adenovirus, etc.), complex (bacteriophage, etc.). More: https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/General_Biology_2e_(OpenStax)/05:_Unit_V-_Biological_Diversity/5.01:_Viruses/5.1.02:_Viral_Evolution_Morphology_and_Classification; https://microbenotes.com/classification-of-virus/)  
• By host: Animal viruses (HIV, etc.), plant viruses (TMV, etc.), bacteriophages (T4 phage, etc.). More: https://microbenotes.com/classification-of-virus/

These categories are useful because they connect directly to what students will create in 3D: different shapes, different outer layers, different “surface features.”