Immunity Graphic Mini-Project

Update: The kids (mostly) finished the Antibody Attack activity.  I had them label specific antibodies with the names of specific antigens.  For example, the antibodies IgM and IgG respond to the rabies virus.  Pix are below.

Update 2: Some of the kids who struggle with the big picture in Biology are copying two graphics and labeling each step before embarking on their own info graphic.  See below.

 My kids are going to create info-graphic posters for the next immunity lesson.  I located several resources for the kids to cut and paste into a graphic which describes how the body’s immune system operates.  We are using this slideshow and this tutorial as resources to construct the poster.  The kids have this diagram, the cards from an Immunity Memory game, Typhoidland game cards, and Antibody Attack to use to create a poster.  The kids will annotate the diagram.  I saw a good tip on social media: “AntiGEN is on the pathoGEN.  AntiBODY is made by your BODY.”   Wish me luck!

Project Guide:

1. Organize the cards into a concept map.  What organs and organ  systems are part of immunity?  What are the components of the immune system?  

2. Take a step by step approach using the diagram.  What happens when a pathogen invades the body?

3. Lay out the cards on paper and create diagrams, arrows, and labels to explain how the immune system works.  Organize your ideas before you commit to gluing the cards on the poster paper.

Family Science: Shark’s Teeth

 My mom had a beach cottage on the Chesapeake Bay for twenty years.  It’s a fun place to visit if you like to hunt for fossils, especially shark’s teeth.  The beach area was a little north of Calvert Cliffs State Park. Fossil hunting is permitted.  The beach is littered with fossils.   Here is a website with the ten best places in the U.S. to find shark’s teeth.  Another top site is Venice Beach, Florida.  We have family near Venice, Florida.  Many of the beaches south of Sarasota have shark’s teeth.  Here is a guide to identifying shark’s teeth.  Here is a guide for the fossils at Calvert Cliffs. Below are a few fossils I saved from family trips to the beach in Maryland.   Let me warn you!  Fossil hunting is addictive!  Plan a fun family field trip!  

Polymers!

 One of the most popular chemistry labs is Polymers.  Here is an earlier post with loads of links for chemistry labs.  Another related activity is Power Balls!  Kids make their own super balls.  Here is an Instructables project to make molecules from polymer clay.  (My class does the Polymer labs and builds the molecules during a unit of Organic Chemistry.). Here are 27 polymer ideas from Terrific Science.  I look for sales, such as this one, Power Ball kit, from Michaels.  Pick out three or four polymer labs to try the next time the kids say they are bored. 

Grocery Store Botany: Kingdom Plantae

 I’m planning Modules 13 and 14, (Modules 11 and 12 in the third edition), Plants or Botany.  Along with slides of plant parts, we’ll do the experiments from the textbook.  The kids will do both fruit and flower dissections.  We are starting with this Apple Dissection.  The instructions have all of the fruit parts labeled.  Here and here are fruit dissections guides for other types of fruits and vegetables.  Here is a list of different classifications and examples of fruits.  Olives are drupes; cucumbers are pepos.  My kids will both dissection, draw, label, and classify fruits and vegetables(which are also fruits, biologically.)  I hope to locate lilies to dissect, sketch, and label.

Buy a box of spinach leaves for Chromatography and Photosynthesis labs.  I am experimenting with CFL, incandescent, and LED bulbs to see if the light source changes the rate the spinach leaves rise.  (The bulbs have different emission spectra.  Will they change the rates of photosynthesis? Frankly, I don’t know.  I asked my husband, who teaches Physics.  He just grunted.  So we’ll have to test and see.). Yeah!  The kids can graph the timed results in spreadsheets.    Anyway, the labs involve a trip to the grocery store.

Typhoid Mary

 The kids are presenting their disease slideshows, finishing the pedigree and sex-linked test, and starting diseases.  Here is the post with the links for the slideshow, vocabulary, and questions.  A few of the kids have started on the immunity vocabulary.  BTW the vocabulary and questions constitute the test.  

We did an activity about Typhoid Mary, Mary Mallon.  Here is the slideshow introduction.  Here is the worksheet the kids did about Typhoid Mary.  I am using Typhoid Mary as part of the introduction to diseases and disease transmission.  Here is an article about gall stones and and asymptomatic typhoid carriers.  One kid wanted to see gall stones.  Here is the source for the gall stones photo below.  We had some nice discussions about washing hands.

Valentine’s Day Anatomy!

 Several years ago, my Human Biology class made clay models of organs.  The images below are from social media.  The bloody hearts are made from cake.  I do have a brain mold to make Jello Brains.  But, my kids use polymer clay to make anatomical organ models.  If you have a budding cake artist, these heart models may serve as inspiration.

Chemistry Valentines!

 Here are some ideas for Chemistry Valentines from Flinn.  So much fun!  Below is an example posted on social media.

Mapping a London Epidemic

 Here is a National Geographic activity, a study of a cholera epidemic.  My Bio class has begun a study of diseases.  After two years of the Pandemic, the topic of diseases and disease transmission is germane.  I’m still avoiding COVID-19, which has been so politicized.  The kids are giving presentations on their assigned diseases this week.  I’ll start delivering more content about diseases, immunity, and the difference between innate and adaptive immunity.

Biology Valentines!

 I saw these Valentines on social media and made a copy to give to my Biology class Tuesday! Update: My kids loved the valentines and skittles.  I’m doing science valentines next year, too!  Funny, right?  Just added another example!

Immunity

Update: The Homeschool Scientist has 22 Immune System Activities for Kids.  I’m using this tutorial with a host of hand-outs for the kids to use to define types of immunity.

 I just prepared materials for a unit on Immunity.  Apologia Biology doesn’t have much information on diseases.  So I’m adding a unit with one glaring omission: COVID-19.  We are all sick of the topic.  Here is the slideshow.  Here is the vocabulary and questions.  Here is the chapter the kids will read about immunity.  I’m using this slideshow, too.  Here is the source for the macrophage images below.  Hope  this is helpful!  

Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide Lab

 One student entered late to Co-op Biology.  She has nearly completed everything.  We just redid Catalase Lab.  Here is the original post.  Here is the fall post.  We made mixtures of sodium alginate, calcium lactate, and yeast, using 2.5 grams of each dissolved separately in 20-25 mL of water.  The yeast solution is mixed with the sodium alginate solution and dropped as small spheres, which are tested in hydrogen peroxide.  Take a look!

Karyotyping

 The Bio class worked on this Human Karyotyping Lab today in class.  We did a brief review with this slideshow.  Each lab group did two Karyotyping, one normal, one unknown.  There are two normal sets of karyotypes, one male and one female.  There are four different sets of unknowns to distribute to different lab groups.  Take a look!

Instagram Templates

I ran across an idea on social media, called Istagerms.  The idea is to assign a germ or disease and create one word, hash tags for the disease.  Here is a free Instagram template to use to adapt this project.  Here is the TPT link to Instagerms, with instructions.  Below is the image the teacher posted on social media.  Take a look!  

Sidewalk Science

 Instagram has a cool idea, Sidewalk Science at #teaching.guys: a chalk skeleton labeled.  You could trace your body and make a skeleton overlay to label, too.  Make your own sidewalk chalk.  Plaster of Paris has calcium carbonate, which makes a softer chalk than dust-free chalk, which contains magnesium carbonate.  I like to blend different colors using tempera paint.  I just though this was a fun idea!

Karyotype

The kids completed work on pedigrees.  The kids researched the case study for Woody Guthrie and Huntington disease to create his family’s pedigree, based on Woody Guthrie’s tragic family life.  It helps to do Punnett Square.  The kids are doing this Karyotype activity, Thursday to complete Genetics.  Finally.  Some of the kids had completed all of the work and spent class researching different diseases with my assorted collection of iPads and Chromebooks—which requires Google verification endlessly.  The kids seldom remember their passwords or cannot verify their logins.  Aaaarrrrrrggggghhhh!

Adopt a Disease

 The kids are going to research diseases.  Here is the grading rubric I’m using.  The Biology Corner has this COVID, Infectious Disease Project.  Frankly, COVID is fairly divisive and has been highly politicized.  After nearly two years of COVID, I believe the kids are tired of hearing about COVID.  Here is an A-Z list of diseases for the kids to choose.  (We do not include sexually transmitted diseases in our study.)   Take a look at the information about Plague, my favorite disease.  I’ll post projects.

Mole Olympics!

 In honor of the Olympics, let’s do Mole Olympics!  Basically, these are mole lab stations.  Here is a post about weighing moles.  Take a look!

Here is a plug for Chemmatters!

One of my favorite resources is  Chemmatters, a magazine sponsored by the American Chemistry Society, for high school students.  This month there is an article, What’s in a Marshmallow?, which is germane to Biology and Chemistry.  Here are free articles available digitally, and organized by topic.   The Teacher’s Guides have questions and answers for students.  The articles and questions are great as supplemental reading assignments. I’ve subscribed to Chemmatters for years.   Take a look!