Lesson Title: Fighting Disease

Teacher Name: Nirasha Premaratne

Subject: General Science Grade Level: 8 (Form 2)
(The Living Environment)
Time Required (days; time/day): 70 minutes
Topic: Microbes and diseases ( KS3 Science Unit 8C)
NYS – The Living Environment Core Curriculum –
Key Idea 5: Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life.

Essential Question: How does our body fight against diseases?

Pre-requisites (Prior Knowledge):
Students know that micro-organisms are living organisms.
Students have explored the characteristics of micro-organisms and they know micro-organisms feed,
grow and reproduce like other organisms
Students can name some diseases caused by micro-organisms

STAGE 1 - DESIRED RESULTS

A. Content Area Standard(s): (include complete standard, not just standard #)

Standard 1: Students will use mathematical analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as
appropriate, to pose questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
Standard 2: Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate
technologies.
Standard 4: Students will understand and apply scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining
to the physical setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of
Ideas in science.

B. Intended Learning Outcome Define what students will know and be able to do and at what level of
mastery they should be able to do it. NOTE: Add/subtract rows from below each column heading,
Student will know… Student will be able to…
that the body has natural barriers to infection; that to organise and link information correctly and
the production of antibodies and specialised cells creatively
in the blood are part of the defense systems of the to organise facts/ideas/information in an
body appropriate sequence
to describe some of the systems in the human
body for fighting infecting micro-organisms
PERFORMANCE INDICATOR 5.2 All students will identify some natural barrier
defences that a body has against infection, and,
5.2b Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other parasites with help, present this knowledge using creativity
may infect plants and animals and interfere with and a variety of techniques.
normal life functions. Most students will describe, present this
knowledge in an imaginative manner, and also
5.2c The immune system protects against
identify how cells which help a body protect itself
antigens associated with pathogenic organisms or
against disease have adapted to carry out this
foreign substances
role.
Some student will explain in detail how the body
defends itself against disease.

© 2009, Gradel & Jabot (adapted from Jabot, Maheady, Rey, 2005; adapted from Wiggins & McTighe) 1
 STAGE 2 - ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE
Students will demonstrate their learning/understanding in the following way(s):
A. Teacher-Created Assessments:
Pre-test: Post-test:
Oral questions/ timed-questions posted on the Worksheet and student project work submitted to
Blog the Blog
B. Performance Assessments:
The following rubric would be used for each student:

Activity 1 Activity 2 Activity 3 Score

Student Student Student Student Student did Student Student Student
got did not followed partially not follow posted 8 posted 5- posted
correct get instructions follow instructions or more 7 video less than
sequence correct 1 – 5 in the instructions 1 – 5 in the video clip clip URLs 5 clip
sequence allotted 1 – 5 in the allotted URLs in in the URLs in
time allotted time the correct the
time correct sequence correct
sequence sequence
1 0 2 1 0 3 2 1 6

Bonus: Student made personal comments on topic and rated the work of at least one peer – 2
Student made personal comments on topic or rated the work of at least one peer – 1
Score 8 – Excellent Work, you Cyber Scientist!
7 – Excellent Work, you Expert Blogger!
6 – Excellent Work
5 – Very Good
4 – Good
3 – Getting there
2 – Must work hard to work on time
1 – Must prepare more for lesson
C. Other Assessments (e.g., Peer, Self):
Students will carry out a peer evaluation of their projects and post it on the Blog
Student may also self-assess oneself after viewing other’s work

D. Assessment Adaptations: The teacher should check understanding of students by asking them to
show or tell how the instructions are to be followed and what they have to do.

STAGE 3 - LEARNING PLAN

A. Learning Activities
1. Instructional Strategies/Learning Activities:
(e.g., demonstration, discussion, small groups, role play, etc.)

Web-based learning
Demonstrations – Teacher demonstrates the instructions and how to sign in to the Blog, students
demonstrate their final work on the multimedia projector.
Discussion – Class discussions on how white blood cells attack foreign bodies using key words:
pathogens, antigens, antibodies, engulf, etc.
Individual or pair activities – students will work alone or in pairs depending on their ability level on the
activities.

© 2009, Gradel & Jabot (adapted from Jabot, Maheady, Rey, 2005; adapted from Wiggins & McTighe) 2
2. Introducing the Lesson: (capturing students’ attention, activating students’ prior knowledge).
Starter:
WILF Statement: Today, what I am looking for is for you to be able to explain, in a creative way, how
our body fights disease, and publish your work on our Blog so people who do not understand will be
able to read and learn how we get sick and how our body tries to fight off the disease.
Students would sign into the Blog and answer the questions against a clock to activate their prior
knowledge:
1. What are the 3 groups of micro-organisms?
2. What is a pathogen?
3. Name 5 diseases caused by pathogens.
Activity 1 – (see below)

3. Instructional Sequence:
(representing the content: teaching/learning activities, connecting to students’ prior knowledge, etc.)
Complete the following two columns, showing teacher activity in correspondence with student activity.
Add/subtract rows as needed.

Teacher activity (The teacher is doing….)
ACTIVITY 1
Ask students to sign in to the Blog and find the
“fighting disease” link and tell them they have 2
minutes read through the page and follow the links
to complete Activity 1.
Check student activity and help struggling
students
Post replies commenting on each student’s
progress in work.
ACTIVITY 2
Ask students to complete Activity 2 by clicking the
link on the Blog page.
Check student activity and help struggling
students
Check student activity and help struggling
students
Post replies commenting on each student’s
progress in work.
ACTIVITY 3
Ask students to complete Activity 3 by clicking the
link on the Blog page.
Answer student questions and check on student
activity and help struggling students
Post replies commenting on each student’s
progress in work.
Check student activity and help struggling
students
Point out that step 8 on instruction sheet as the
expected homework
Student activity (The student is doing…)
Open link and read “fighting disease” page.
Work on Activity 1 on the Blog.
Arrange sequence of pictures displayed on Blog in
correct order and post the correct sequence.
Read comments/ post comments on each others
postings
Reflect on correct sequence that show how white
blood cells work inside our body to fight disease.
Follow links in Activity 2 to complete the online-
worksheet by reading the relevant information.
Click on the links to visit the given sites to obtain
information
Read the information on the web pages and
complete the online-worksheet and submit it on
the Blog
Reflect on correct answers to the online
worksheet.
Follow links in Activity 3 to complete the activity.
Click on the URLs listed to watch the video clips.
Arrange the URLs in correct sequence and post
the sequence on the Blog
Browse Blog to check on homework activity.
Read comments/ post comments on each others
postings.
Rate each others work on the Blog and post
comments on the ratings
Reflect on correct URL sequence that show how
white blood cells work inside our body to fight
disease.

© 2009, Gradel & Jabot (adapted from Jabot, Maheady, Rey, 2005; adapted from Wiggins & McTighe) 3
B. Adaptations to the Instructional Sequence to Differentiate:

More time given out of class to complete Activity 3.

More time spent with struggling students in class.
Oral explanations/ demonstrations of the links to students who cannot follow the published instructions
on the Blog
Alternatively, they could use their text book and notebook to get the information. Those who were not
able to complete their work in the allotted time could complete it from home.

Use of larger font size in the documents.

C. Discussion and Assessment of Learning: (Pointing out to students how what they are learning is
related to the driving question; assessing students’ learning as a result of the lesson)

The students should be reminded that the picture sequence in Activity 1 shows how white blood cells
fight against disease. They should also be encouraged to use the new key words: “antigen”, “antibody”,
“engulf” in their work or discussions.
The more key words students use to describe their work during discussions with them will indicate a
high level of learning.
The completed online worksheet from Activity 2 will show how much information the students
processed and how they related it to the topic discussed. The immediate feedback to the students on
their own computer screen will allow them to check their progress on their own.
Activity 3 will help students to establish the knowledge learnt in the first 2 activities. Each student’s
success in learning will be measured with a rubric. Those who did not reach the accepted learning
standard could repeat the activities in their own time frame.
The homework to write a short description on how white blood cells fight against disease will help
students to focus on the topic.

D. Closure:
1. Overall Closure Plans:

Show some of the correct responses of students to Activity 3 that are completed within the allotted time
to class using multimedia projector.
Remind students of the WILF statement for the lesson.
Homework:
Complete Activity and submit before next lesson. (For those who didn’t complete work in class)
Write a short description of how white blood cells fight against disease. (For all students)

2. Extensions for Early Finishers:

Ask students to research other methods used by the body to provide defence against disease.
For example: Cells in the windpipe produce mucous and ciliated cells trap microbes which are then
swept towards the stomach; Acid in the stomach kills microbes; Chemicals in tears kill bacteria

They can post their findings on the Blog for others to read.

3. Alternate strategies for struggling students or those who learn differently:

The students who are struggling or over-whelmed with ICT session can find the same information on
their text book to answer the worksheet which can be printed out for them.
They can still take part in the same activities on paper – printed picture sequence/ printed worksheet
and make concept map (Step 6 – D) in notebook

© 2009, Gradel & Jabot (adapted from Jabot, Maheady, Rey, 2005; adapted from Wiggins & McTighe) 4
E. Procedures: (both already established procedures to be used, and procedures to be taught for this
lesson)

Students report to ICT laboratory

Students log on to students’ accounts
Students sign in to the Cyberspaceteacher’s Blog
Students follow instructions by following the Activity links
Students learn how to make posting/comments to the Blog
Students learn what to look for when rating each other’s work
Students make comments
Students post comments
Teacher/peers show struggling students how to follow the instructions
Teacher assesses the students
Students note the homework and the topic for next class

LESSON DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

A. Technology Tools and Materials: (classroom set-up, preparations, resources, etc.)

Web 2.0 Tools:

To create blog : eBlogger
I created the blog “Cyberteacher’s Blog” and posted the relevant information, instructions and
resources for the students.
To create files accessible to students from any computer (school or home): Google docs
I created pdf files and posted the URLs generated from Google docs on the Blog. I also posted the
YouTube URLs of video clips on the Blog for students to view and work on their given activities.

ICT laboratory with computers for entire class and teacher – The lesson is ideally suited to be
conducted in the ICT laboratory, where every student will have access to one computer each. All
computer users should be facing the front of the classroom, to observe demonstrations easily. Each
student computer should be easily accessible to the teacher, too.
Multimedia projector linked to teacher’s computer – The multimedia projector is required to demonstrate
the instructions and specific information at the start of the lesson and also to show the student
presentations to the rest of the class at the end of the lesson.

Video camera and Firewire or IEEE 1394 cable or memory card reader – The video clips were filmed in
advance. I used the students as characters. I used my personal video camera, although the school also
has one. The video clips were later uploaded to YouTube, so I could use the URLs to link them on the
Blog.

Framework Science 8C Scheme of Work and Teacher’s Guide CD

Internet access – All computers should be on the network for internet and intranet access. All websites
visited by the students were checked prior to the lesson to ascertain their suitability to the lesson, age
limit and level of understanding of students.

Photocopies of the instruction sheet were also made in advance for students with difficulties. The
information file “Fighting Disease” was put on the Blog, so all students could access it.

Instruct the students to turn up at the computer laboratory on the day of the lesson with relevant
equipment such as recordable or re-writable disks (obtainable from the school stores), or their personal
USB drives IF they have one, Framework 8 Science text book and note book.

© 2009, Gradel & Jabot (adapted from Jabot, Maheady, Rey, 2005; adapted from Wiggins & McTighe) 5
B. Parent/Community Resources:
The school computer laboratory should be booked early to avoid last minute disappointments.
Confirm with systems administrator that all computers have the requirements for accessing the chosen
web sites and logging on to the external links, including blogging.
Write a letter to the Principal for permission to allow students access the Blog web site and work on it.
Write a letter to the District Superintendent for permission to allow students access to specific YouTube
URLs

C. Contact Information:
Blog would look like this: http://cyberteachersblog.blogspot.com/
My Email: prem5106@fredonia.edu

The Blog on which the students will be working:

© 2009, Gradel & Jabot (adapted from Jabot, Maheady, Rey, 2005; adapted from Wiggins & McTighe) 6