Lesson 1.3: Your Immune System

Overview

This lesson focuses on understanding how the immune system works to keep us healthy and how we can best care for our immune system. Developing skills in accessing valid and reliable information about the immune system is also addressed.

Learning Targets

  • Identify the major organs and tissues of the immune system.
  • Explain the immune response.
  • Explain what a pathogen is and provide two examples.
  • Describe four different problems the immune system could have.
  • Describe the relationship between stress and immune health.
  • Access valid and reliable 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: Open the Lesson 1.3 PowerPoint slides, or make copies of the Lesson 1.3 Note-Taking Guide.

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? Why do you think you got sick? 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 journals 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 partners, 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 quizzes, and use them alongside posttests 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.

Option: Use the Lesson 1.3 PowerPoint slides to review the chapter content.

Option: Have students use the Lesson 1.3 Note-Taking Guide to review chapter content. Ask students to work alone, in pairs, or in small groups. Review the questions as a class if time permits.

Lesson Focus: Accessing Reliable Information

  1. Decide whether you want students to work individually, with a partner, or in a small group when doing their research, and instruct them accordingly.
  2. Assign students an appropriate topic for this task, or allow students to select their topic. Topics should focus on the different diseases or disorders of the immune system.
  3. Provide each individual or group with a copy of the Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Reliable Information.
  4. Students will follow the instructions on the worksheet when conducting their research and create a fact sheet about their assigned disease.
  5. Have students share highlights of their work with the class or with another student or group.
  6. Option: Provide students with a copy of the Holistic Rubric: Accessing Valid and Reliable Information, and have them evaluate each other’s work.

Challenge Activity

Have students who need an additional challenge work on the following critical-thinking task.

The immune system is complex and does many things. Draw a cartoon or another set of images that shows what happens to pathogens when they try to invade your body. Start with a group of pathogens outside the body and demonstrate how the body protects itself. Your cartoon or drawing should tell a story and be easy to understand.

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?

    The immune system is made up of the bone marrow, lymph nodes, respiratory system, skin, white blood cells, spleen, stomach and intestines, and thymus.

  • Explain the immune response?

    When a pathogen gets in the body, the white blood cells attack it. The body also makes antibodies that will recognize whether the same pathogen enters again.

  • Explain what a pathogen is and provide two examples?

    A pathogen is a foreign invader. Viruses and bacteria are two examples.

  • Explain how to keep your immune system healthy?

    Eat foods rich in vitamins and minerals; get regular exercise; sleep 8 to 10 hours per night; wash your hands regularly; get immunizations; maintain a healthy weight; don’t drink alcohol, use tobacco products, or vape; and manage your stress.

  • Access valid and reliable information about immune disorders and use it to explain a healthy decision?

    To help access valid information, use accurate key terms when searching for information. Evaluate the results of a search; don’t just use the first resource to come up. Focus on .org and .gov sites when you can (see Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Reliable Information).

Assessment

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

  • Quiz: Have students take the Lesson 1.3 Quiz.
  • Vocabulary Review: Collect the Lesson 1.3 Vocabulary Review Worksheets, and evaluate them for accuracy.
  • Note-Taking Guide: Collect the completed Lesson 1.3 Note-Taking Guide, and spot check one or more items for completion and accuracy.
  • Skill-Building Worksheet: Have students submit the Skill-Building Challenge Worksheet: Accessing Reliable Information and use the Holistic Rubric: Accessing Valid and Reliable Information to evaluate their skill development.
  • Journal Question: Ask students to respond to the journal question again, adding information they learned from today’s class. Require a one-paragraph response that uses proper grammar.

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.