Lesson 1.3: My Immune System

Overview

This lesson focuses on learning about the immune system including what it does for our body and how it affects our body.

Learning Targets

  • LO11: Identify the major organs and tissues of the immune system and explain their primary functions.
  • LO12: Explain what a pathogen is and provide two examples.
  • LO13: Explain how the immune system responds to pathogens.
  • LO14: Describe four different problems the immune system could have.
  • LO15: Explain how HIV affects your immune system.
  • LO16: Explain how vaccinations work to help your immune system fight off known pathogens.
  • LO17: Access and analyze the validity of information about immune disorders.

Preparation

For the Warm-Up Activity: Write the Journal Question on the board or identify (and copy as needed) the worksheets you plan to use:

For the Content Focus: Make copies of the Lesson 1.3 Note-Taking Guide. Project the Lesson 1.3 PowerPoint slides.

For the Lesson Focus: Copy the Lesson 1.3 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Reliable Information..

Warm-Up Activity

Select a warm-up activity to help get your class focused and on task.

  • Journal Question: When was the last time you were really sick? What type of illness did you have? What factors might have affected your body’s ability to fight off your illness? What did you do to try to feel better and to get healthy again?
    • Option: Write or project the question and have students respond in their journal or on their “bell ringer” sheet as they enter class.
    • Option: Have students discuss the question with a partner or in a small group.
  • Vocabulary Review: Have students work individually, in pairs, or in small groups to complete the Lesson 1.3 Vocabulary Review Worksheet
  • Quiz: Have students complete the Lesson 1.3 Quiz to assess their prior knowledge.
    • Option: Collect the quiz and use it alongside a posttest to demonstrate student learning.
    • Option: Have students share their answers with a partner and then go over the answers together as a class.

Lesson Content

Review the content from the textbook lesson.

Lesson Focus: Accessing Reliable Information

  1. Give each student a copy of the Lesson 1.3 Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Reliable Information.
  2. Option: Have students work individually to complete the task on the worksheet and create their fact sheet.
    Option: Assign students to work with a partner to research on the disease they chose to research. Each partner should find at least two reliable sources of information and work together to create their fact sheet with a variety of valid and reliable resources.
  3. Once students have created their fact sheet, place the fact sheets around the perimeter of the room, as space allows. Tell students to take a piece of paper and a pencil with them and to walk throughout the room writing down at least five new pieces of information from five different diseases. Allow students six to seven minutes to complete this task.
  4. Option: Once students are back in their seat, ask them to discuss the five new pieces of information they have written down with their partner.
    Option: Once students are back in their seat, ask volunteers to share what they learned with the class.

Challenge Activity

Have students needing an additional challenge work on the following Thinking Critically task.

The immune system is a complex system that carries out many tasks. Draw a diagram that shows how the immune system works to fight off pathogens. Label your diagram using appropriate terms.

Reflection and Summary

Review the critical content from today’s lesson. Review the learning targets and ask students to answer each question posed.

Can you...

  • Identify the major organs and tissues of the immune system and explain their primary functions?

    Refer to diagram of the major organs and tissues of the immune system.

  • Explain what a pathogen is and provide two examples?

    Anything foreign that enters your body and can cause a disease is called a pathogen. Viruses are very small bundles of infectious materials that get inside your cells and then multiply. Bacteria are single-celled organisms found in the environment that can carry disease.

  • Explain how the immune system responds to pathogens?

    The immune system launches an attack. White blood cells attack the pathogens and warn other cells. White blood cells create antibodies to protect the body from the same pathogen in the future.

  • Describe four different problems the immune system could have?

    Immune deficiency disorders. These happen when your immune system does not make enough white blood cells to attack invading pathogens. You can be born with a deficiency or you can get it from a pathogen like a virus. Medical procedures, such as treating cancer with chemotherapy, can also cause immune deficiency.

    Autoimmune disorders. These happen when a person’s immune system attacks part of its own body rather than the invader it should be attacking. See figure 1.16 for examples of autoimmune disorders.

    Allergies. Allergies. occur when the body becomes hypersensitive to something in the environment and there is a damaging immune response by the body as a result. Common allergens include dust mites, pet dander (skin and hair), weeds and grasses, mold, and pollen. Allergies are typically treated with over-the-counter pills or nasal sprays. Serious allergies may require a prescription medication or an injection. Some people have allergies that cause more severe reactions and can be deadly, such as swelling of the throat and airway constriction from being stung by a bee. People can also be allergic to foods, such as peanuts, shellfish, wheat, milk, or eggs.

    Lymphoma. Lymphoma is an umbrella term for cancer of the immune system. There are different several kinds of lymphoma, and treatments and survival rates vary by type.

  • Explain how HIV impacts your immune system?

    HIV attacks the immune system making it so the body cannot fight off pathogens.

  • Explain how vaccinations work to help your immune system fight off known pathogens?

    A vaccination contains a dead or weakened version of the virus. The body responds to attack the virus and creates antibodies to protect the body from the virus in the future.

  • Access and analyze the validity of information about immune disorders?

    To access information, use accurate key terms when searching for information about immune disorders. Analyze the results of the search by focusing on .org and .gov sites for validity and reliability and use the accessing information steps to verify the information.

Assessment

Complete one or more of the following assessment tasks for this lesson.

Take It Home

Share with your family members what you have learned about the immune system. Find out whether members of your family have any autoimmune diseases or allergies. If so, ask questions to better understand what the disease or condition is like and how it affects that person’s life. Document your results and write a short (one-half to one page) summary of your findings. If no one in your family or household has a known autoimmune disorder, research common symptoms associated with and autoimmune disorder of your choosing and write a summary explaining how you think those symptoms would impact a person’s day-to-day life.