Grade Level 3-5 Sergeant Cell s Immune System Defense Team Webquest Activity Summary Comparing immune cells with a police team, the webquest activity guides students to research the immune system online. At the end of their research, students will create Profiles for the molecule or cell of their choice. Your students will learn: The 4 major types of cells of the immune system and explain what their jobs are. How the immune system remembers germs. How a vaccine works. WEBQUEST Full educational standards available online at www.sepa.duq.edu/education THE IMMUNE SYSTEM Teacher Pages Content Developers Gerra Bosco and Brianne Miller
Grade Level This Webquest is designed for students in third to fifth grade. Instructors at the middle school level, however, can adapt the Webquest for use in their classrooms as well. Topic Description This Webquest was developed as part of the multimedia educational project Regenerative Medicine Partnership for Life. This project is funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Center for Resource Research. The Webquest is designed to help students acquire new knowledge about the immune system: its function and benefits, its role in health defense, and the different types of cells and tissues that work together to protect our body. Standards National Science Education Standards http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/pdf/index.html 2 Skills Associate Create Describe Draw Differentiate Explain Identify Illustrate Infer Name Order Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F (Grades K-4): As a result of activities in grades K-4, all students should develop understanding of o Personal health Science in Personal and Social Perspectives CONTENT STANDARD F (Grades 5-8): As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop understanding of o Personal health o Risks and benefits o Science and technology in society ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for Students (Grades 3-5) http://cnets.iste.org/currstands/cstands-netss.html Performance Indicators: All students should have opportunities to demonstrate the following performances. Prior to completion of Grade 5 students will: 1. Use keyboards and other common input and output devices (including adaptive devices when necessary) efficiently and effectively. (1) 3. Discuss basic issues related to responsible use of technology and information and describe personal consequences of inappropriate use. (2) 4. Use general purpose productivity tools and peripherals to support personal productivity, remediate skill deficits, and facilitate learning throughout the curriculum. (3) 5. Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4) 8. Use technology resources for problem solving, self-directed learning, and extended learning activities. (5, 6) 9. Determine when technology is useful and select the appropriate tool(s) and technology resources to address a variety of tasks and problems. (5, 6)
Resources and Materials Computer lab/computer area Computers (one for each pair of students) Photocopies of the Capture, Identify, and Activate! Webquest (one copy for each student) Photocopies of Employment Profiles (one copy for each pair of students) Pencils Things to Consider Before Implementing this Webquest in the Classroom: Pair students into effective cooperative partner groups (see below). Reserve time/class period in the computer lab. Review proper computer lab etiquette. Copy Capture, Identify, and Activate! Webquest Reading Guides for students. Implement necessary academic adaptations (see below for suggestions). Review and revise the suggested rubric. Process Your students will use the internet to explore the human immune system. Students will work in pairs to complete the interdisciplinary Webquest activity during one class period (30-45 minutes). Plan for more time if you feel your students need it. Please advise your students to follow the directions in the Reading Guide, review the rubric that will be used to evaluate their work, check off each box as a step is completed, and use their Brainstorm Sheet (Applicant Profile Worksheet) to record ideas. After they all finish collecting information, they should begin filling out the Employment Profiles provided as a separate handout. It is best if the assignment is completed in class with their partner. Decide how many days your students will have to complete their assignment and set a due date. Pairs will then present their project in front of the class. Why Use This Webquest? We all get sick sometimes, but most of the time our bodies protect us from foreign invaders. This webquest introduces your students to the major players in the immune system and helps them to understand how our immune system tries to prevent us from getting sick and how it fights disease when germs get past our defenses. By using this Webquest, in conjunction with Dr. Allevable s Laboratory Website and the Dr. Allevable and Regenerobot s Exploration Adventure workbook, the immune system will come alive in your classroom! This Webquest, in particular, helps integrate technology into your classroom and bring your students new knowledge in a fun, interactive, and engaging manner. Adaptations Students should work in pairs in the computer lab to create an evaluative product. The partners can be previously chosen by the teacher to ensure that all levels of learners are able to complete this task (i.e.- a lower-level learner may be paired with a higher-level learner). This pairing style helps students work collectively and practice cooperative skills and social skills. Additionally, students can practice delegation of roles and division of tasks to complete and create the assignment. Students will present their finished evaluative products to the entire class with a partner. As partners, students scaffold each other s learning and create more advanced products/ideas than if they worked on an individual basis. If a student has a visual learning impairment, feel free to create learning guides using larger print or Braille. Additionally, consider using a mouse with a magnifying feature to aid them in reading smaller texts on a website. This activity should not create problems for students with auditory impairments as the RegMed Immune System Website does not contain sound effects that would impede comprehension. 3
For this Webquest, your students will be using the following websites: Official RegMed Immune System Website http://www.sepa.duq.edu/regmed/immune/immune_intro.html Sponsored by the multimedia educational project Regenerative Medicine Partnership for Life. Kid s Health Problems http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/index.html Find out more information about different kinds of health problems kids can have that affect their immune system! 4
Sergeant Cell s Immune System Defense Team Webquest Immune Webquest - Teacher The immune system is a very important and integral part of the human body. The immune system is not located in a specific organ; it is easiest to think of it as a complex constellation of different cells and tissues working together to protect nearly every area of our body. The most important function of the immune system is to distinguish what cells and substances are healthy and belong to your body and which aren t! The immune system is able to do this by detecting and fighting infections caused by germs and other harmful things, like viruses, bacteria, fungal infections and parasites, in our bodies. 5 The cells of the immune system are known as white blood cells. Each type of cell performs certain functions, such as killing damaged or infected cells, carrying messages, making antibodies, or carrying away debris. There are four major types of white blood cells: T cells, B cells, Neutrophils and Macrophage. From top to bottom: macrophage, T cell and B cell. 1. T cells are the most important white blood cell; they coordinate the activities of the other white blood cells and are essential for fighting disease. 2. B cells also play an important role in protecting our bodies; they produce and release special proteins called antibodies. Antibodies stick to the surface of germs in our bodies, thus disabling them and also making them a target for another type of cell called macrophage (mack -row-fage). 3. Macrophage (from the Latin macro = big, phage = eat) are white blood cells that literally eat germs covered by antibodies. 4. Neutrophils (new -tro-fills) are the white blood cells that are the first responders to infections. We have more neutrophils than any other type of white blood cell. Their job is to patrol the body looking for germs. When they find an infection, they send a signal to our T cells, and our T cells send the other white blood cells to the infection. Each B cell only makes one type of antibody, but Memory B cells can remember all the germs they ve found for your whole life! Because your body remembers what germs look like, any time that germ comes back your body can get rid of it very quickly before you even know you re infected! This is why you can only get sick from a disease one time (like Chicken Pox).
You might be thinking, But I ve had a lot of colds! The common cold is actually caused by many different types of viruses that all cause the same symptoms. This is why you can catch a cold more than once. Because there are so many types of viruses that cause the common cold, there is no vaccine for the common cold. Vaccines work by showing your body what a single germ looks like, just like a Most Wanted sign. After you get a vaccine shot, your B cells will produce antibodies against that germ and become Memory B cells that will remember that germ. Antibodies will only stick to germs, except in rare cases of autoimmune diseases where the antibodies mistake our own healthy cells for invaders. Immune Webquest - Teacher Applicant #1- The Skin 6 Students Should: Go to the following website: http://www.sepa.duq.edu/regmed/immune/immune_intro.html Click the General Mechanisms link at the top of the webpage. Read the text on the webpage that appears. 1. Lots of weird things like hairs and mucous really help defend your body. In particular the skin! Why is the skin a major defense mechanism for the immune system? The skin poses a physical barrier. 2. What would germs do to the body if you didn t have a skin? Applicant #2- Histamine Students Should: Germs would get into our body very easily. Reread the section titled General Mechanisms, if necessary. 1. Histamines are an important chemical in the body. What is their purpose in the immune system? Histamines heat the blood and cause it to flow faster. Warmer temperatures can kill some bacteria, and the rush of blood will bring white blood cells to the site of infection quicker! 2. True or False? Circle your response. If false, rewrite the statement so it is true! FALSE. Once outsiders get through the skin, histamines will be released.
3. Cause and Effect? Fill in the cause or effect of the statements below to complete the sentence. Identify if what you wrote is a cause or effect of the written portion of the statement. a. Warmer temperatures kill bacteria. Cause or Effect? Effect b. Histamines and other chemicals will bring white blood cells to the site of infection more quickly. Cause or Effect? Effect Applicant #3- Macrophage Students should: Reread the section titled General Mechanisms, if necessary. 1. The macrophage is a swallowing cell, it can engulf things through phagocytosis. Draw below what a macrophage looks like when it is about to eat a bacteria: 7 2. What do macrophages do? Macrophages get rid of bacteria, fungus, and different types of parasites (like worms), and they also help fight off tumors. Macrophages eat any foreign particles that live in the fibrous environment (extra cellular matrix) between cells, as well as eat the debris of damaged or dead cells. Macrophages can also activate Helper T cells and so start an acquired immune response.
Applicant #4- T Cell Students should: Click the T cells link at the top of the webpage. Read the text on the webpage that appears. 1. Match the questions on the left column with the letter of their answers to the right! Descriptions 1. T cells are a type of white blood cell called. 2. This type of T cell can tell if another cell is healthy or infected. 3. This type of T cell carries information and decides when to tell other immune cells to carry out an immune response. 4. When a Killer T cell decides that a cell is unhealthy, it can destroy with. 5. T cells can identify individual germs because they are. Answers a. intruder organisms and infected cells b. Killer T Cell c. lymphocytes d. specific e. Helper T Cell 8 2. Why do some T cells remain in the body, even after successfully getting rid of an intruder? Some T cells remain in the body to REMEMBER what the germ looks like. The next time the body is exposed to the same germ, the T cells are able to recognize it much faster. This way, you don t get sick from the same thing twice! The B cell is a swallowing cell like the macrophage, but it can only swallow one kind of germ! The kind of germ it is able to swallow depends on the antibodies that the B cell produces. B cell swallow germs through antibody-mediated phagocytosis. The B cell s main job is to produce antibodies that can bind the invading germ.
Applicant #5- B Cell Students should: Click the B cells link at the top of the webpage. Read the text on the webpage that appears. 1. The B cell is a special kind of swallowing cell. What does that mean? Swallowing cells can engulf small particles and bacteria, digest them and then show the pieces to T cells 2. What is the B cell s main job as a part of the immune system? The main job of B cells is to produce antibodies that cover germs. 3. True or False? Circle your response. If false, rewrite the statement so it is true! False: The receptor site is a very important part of the B cell it is called an antibody. This receptor site is a specific binding site on the membrane of the B cell, which means it can bind to many different types ONLY ONE kind of harmful particle. 9 Applicant # 6- Antibodies Students should: Reread the webpage titled B cells, if necessary. 1. Pick the True Statement from each pair below: Antibodies are produced by B cells. Or Antibodies are produced by T cells. The antibodies of one B cell can bind to many kinds of harmful particles. Or The antibodies of one B cell can bind to only one kind of harmful particle. B cells release antibodies all the time. Or B cells only release antibodies after becoming plasma B cells. 2. How do antibodies work? Explain. When B cells come across a germ (also called an antigen), they produce what is called an antibody. The antibody then binds or attaches to the germ (antigen). Each antigen has its own shape and the immune system works to make antibodies for each antigen. The relationship between the antibody and antigen is similar to that of a key and a lock they fit together. The antibodies cover the antigen crippling it and calling other immune cells to destroy it.
Applicant #7- Vaccine Students should: Reread the webpage titled B cells, if necessary. 1. We get vaccines all the time. What is a vaccine? A vaccine is like a Most Wanted sign for your immune system, it lets your body know what a particular germ looks like. A vaccine is a neutralized form or just a part of a specific germ. When you are innoculated, you are exposed to the vaccine. Your immune system responds to the vaccine by creating specific antibodies and memory B cells. This way, if you ever get exposed to the germ you were vaccinated against, your B cells will recognize it very fast and fight it off and you will not get sick. A vaccine gives immunity to a certain germ. 2. True or False: Correct if it s wrong: False: A vaccine exposes your immune system to a live DEAD OR NEUTRALIZED virus or bacteria so that your B cells will create the specific antibodies. So if you ever come in contact with them, your B cells will attack it quickly and you won t get sick! 10 Conclusion Now that the students have had a chance to complete their research, they should create an Employment Profile for one of the applicants they plan to hire. Remind them to cite their sources! The profile they create should include: New employee s name (creativity is encouraged) A job title for that employee (it can be anything they want as long as it applies to the information they find) Job description including the following: o Type of Applicant (B cell, Vaccine, etc) o Main role in the immune system o Special jobs this applicant can perform A drawing of the Applicant Evaluation A rubric for evaluating the work of your students is included as supplementary material. Feel free to use it as is, or revise it to more specifically reflect your learning goals.
More Websites about the Immune System Kid s Health Problems: http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/index.html Find out more information about different kinds of health problems kids can have that affect their immune system! The Lymphatic System: http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/sigbio/project/updated-lymphatic/lymph7.html Associated with the University of Illinois. Microbioloy and Immunology On-Line: http://pathmicro.med.sc.edu/ghaffar/innate.htm This web site is good reference for the non-specific immune system, with animated tutorials for high school and above. Associated with the University of South Carolina. 11 The Immune System in More Detail: http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/medicine/immunity/immune-detail.html This web site is a great reference for middle school and above, with cartoons and games. Associated with NobelPrize.Org. Specific Immunity Animation: http://science.nhmccd.edu/biol/inflam.html This web site contains a great step-by-step animation of some of the more complicated interactions in cell- and antibody-mediated immune response. Associated with North Harris College, Houston TX.