(9-12) C4

Science Curriculum Preview Committee Clarification of Learning Results

Revised 04/07/04

9-12

C4: Explain how the human body protects itself against disease and how the body might lose that ability.

Curriculum Organizing Questions

What are the human body's lines of defense against disease?

Why do people get sick?

Why do people get some illnesses only once, and others many times?

How does AIDS make people so sick?

Elaboration

A basic understanding of the body's immune system will help students make better choices regarding their own health and the consequences of certain behaviors.

Specific Ideas

The body's first line of defense against infectious agents is to keep them from entering or settling on the body. Protective mechanisms include skin to block them, tears and saliva to carry them out, and stomach and vaginal secretions to kill them. SFAA p. 81

The body's second line of defense is the immune system. White blood cells act both to surround invaders and to produce specific antibodies that will attack them (or facilitate attack by other white blood cells). SFAA p. 81

Antibodies to specific past types of invaders remain, along with the capacity to quickly make more if an individual survives the original invasion. SFAA p. 81

The immune system is designed to protect against microscopic organisms and foreign substances that enter from outside the body and against some cancer cells that arise within. SFAA p. 77

Some viral diseases, such as AIDS, destroy critical cells of the immune system, leaving the body unable to deal with multiple infection agents and cancerous cells. Benchmarks 6E4

Toxic substances, some dietary habits, and some personal behavior may be bad for one's health. Some effects show up right away, others may not show up for many years. Avoiding toxic substances, such as tobacco, and changing dietary habits to reduce the intake of such things as animal fat increases the chances of living longer. Benchmarks 6E2 (gr 6-8)

Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites may infect the human body and interfere with normal body functions. A person can catch a cold many times because there are many varieties of cold viruses that cause similar symptoms. Benchmarks 6E3 (gr 6-8)

Some allergic reactions are caused by the body's immune responses to usually harmless environmental substances. Sometimes the immune system may attack some of the body's own cells. Benchmarks 6E1

Faulty genes can cause body parts or systems to work poorly. Some genetic diseases appear only when an individual has inherited a certain faulty gene from both parents. Benchmarks 6E2

Vaccinations and other scientific treatments protect people from getting certain diseases, and different kinds of medicines may help those who do become sick to recover. Benchmarks 8F1 (gr K-1)

Sanitation measures such as the use of sewers, landfills, quarantines, and safe food handling are important in controlling the spread of organisms that cause disease. Improving sanitation to prevent disease has contributed more to saving human life than any advance in medical treatment. Benchmarks 8F1 (gr 6-8)

Inoculations use weakened germs (or parts of them) to stimulate the body's immune system to react. This reaction prepares the body to fight subsequent invasions by actual germs of that type. Some inoculations last for life. Benchmarks 8F4

Many diseases can be prevented, controlled, or cured. Some diseases, such as cancer, result from specific body dysfunctions and cannot be transmitted. NSES F1b

The aging process in humans is associated not only with changes in the hormonal system but also with disease and injury, diet, mutations arising and accumulating in the cells, wear on tissues such as weightbearing joints, psychological factors, and exposure to harmful substances. The slow accumulation of injurious agents such as deposits in arteries, damage to the lungs from smoking, and radiation damage to the skin, may produce noticeable disease. Sometimes diseases that appear late in life will affect brain function, including memory and personality. In addition, diminished physical capacity and loss of one's accustomed social role can result in anxiety or depression. On the other hand, many old people are able to get along quite well, living out independent and active lives, without prolonged periods of disability. SFAA p. 76

Health technology can be used to enhance the human body's natural defenses against disease. Under conditions of reasonably good nutrition and sanitation, the human body recovers from most infectious diseases by itself without intervention of any kind, and recovery itself often brings immunity. But the suffering and danger of many serious diseases can be prevented artificially. By means of inoculation, the immune system of the human body can be provoked to develop its own defenses against specific disease without the suffering and risk of actually contracting the disease. Weakened or killed disease microorganisms injected into the blood may arouse the body's immune system to create antibodies that subsequently will incapacitate live microorganisms if they try to invade. Next to sanitation, inoculation has been the most effective means of preventing early death from disease, especially among infants and children. SFAA p. 123

Molecular biology is beginning to make it possible to design substances that evoke immune responses more precisely and safely than current vaccines. Genetic engineering is developing ways to induce organisms to produce these substances in quantities large enough for research and applications. SFAA p. 124

The overuse of any given antibacterial drug can lead, by means of natural selection, to the spread of bacteria that are not affected by it. Much less is known about the treatment of viral infections, and there are very few antiviral drugs equivalent to those used to combat bacterial infections. SFAA p. 124

New materials that are durable and not rejected by the immune system now make it possible to replace some body parts and to implant devices for electrically pacing the heart, sensing internal conditions, or slowly dispensing drugs at optimal times. SFAA p.125

Developmental & Instructional Implications

Students of all ages tend to believe that many factors they consider important to their health and life span are also beyond their personal control. Benchmarks p. 346

Many of the ideas (at a VERY basic level) are included in the middle level benchmarks, but this indicator seems to want more details.

Examples

Back to Big Ideas Grid C Back to Standard C Back to Index

Curriculum Organizing Questions	What are the human body's lines of defense against disease? Why do people get sick? Why do people get some illnesses only once, and others many times? How does AIDS make people so sick?
Elaboration	A basic understanding of the body's immune system will help students make better choices regarding their own health and the consequences of certain behaviors.
Specific Ideas	The body's first line of defense against infectious agents is to keep them from entering or settling on the body. Protective mechanisms include skin to block them, tears and saliva to carry them out, and stomach and vaginal secretions to kill them. SFAA p. 81 The body's second line of defense is the immune system. White blood cells act both to surround invaders and to produce specific antibodies that will attack them (or facilitate attack by other white blood cells). SFAA p. 81 Antibodies to specific past types of invaders remain, along with the capacity to quickly make more if an individual survives the original invasion. SFAA p. 81 The immune system is designed to protect against microscopic organisms and foreign substances that enter from outside the body and against some cancer cells that arise within. SFAA p. 77 Some viral diseases, such as AIDS, destroy critical cells of the immune system, leaving the body unable to deal with multiple infection agents and cancerous cells. Benchmarks 6E4 Toxic substances, some dietary habits, and some personal behavior may be bad for one's health. Some effects show up right away, others may not show up for many years. Avoiding toxic substances, such as tobacco, and changing dietary habits to reduce the intake of such things as animal fat increases the chances of living longer. Benchmarks 6E2 (gr 6-8) Viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites may infect the human body and interfere with normal body functions. A person can catch a cold many times because there are many varieties of cold viruses that cause similar symptoms. Benchmarks 6E3 (gr 6-8) Some allergic reactions are caused by the body's immune responses to usually harmless environmental substances. Sometimes the immune system may attack some of the body's own cells. Benchmarks 6E1 Faulty genes can cause body parts or systems to work poorly. Some genetic diseases appear only when an individual has inherited a certain faulty gene from both parents. Benchmarks 6E2 Vaccinations and other scientific treatments protect people from getting certain diseases, and different kinds of medicines may help those who do become sick to recover. Benchmarks 8F1 (gr K-1) Sanitation measures such as the use of sewers, landfills, quarantines, and safe food handling are important in controlling the spread of organisms that cause disease. Improving sanitation to prevent disease has contributed more to saving human life than any advance in medical treatment. Benchmarks 8F1 (gr 6-8) Inoculations use weakened germs (or parts of them) to stimulate the body's immune system to react. This reaction prepares the body to fight subsequent invasions by actual germs of that type. Some inoculations last for life. Benchmarks 8F4 Many diseases can be prevented, controlled, or cured. Some diseases, such as cancer, result from specific body dysfunctions and cannot be transmitted. NSES F1b The aging process in humans is associated not only with changes in the hormonal system but also with disease and injury, diet, mutations arising and accumulating in the cells, wear on tissues such as weightbearing joints, psychological factors, and exposure to harmful substances. The slow accumulation of injurious agents such as deposits in arteries, damage to the lungs from smoking, and radiation damage to the skin, may produce noticeable disease. Sometimes diseases that appear late in life will affect brain function, including memory and personality. In addition, diminished physical capacity and loss of one's accustomed social role can result in anxiety or depression. On the other hand, many old people are able to get along quite well, living out independent and active lives, without prolonged periods of disability. SFAA p. 76 Health technology can be used to enhance the human body's natural defenses against disease. Under conditions of reasonably good nutrition and sanitation, the human body recovers from most infectious diseases by itself without intervention of any kind, and recovery itself often brings immunity. But the suffering and danger of many serious diseases can be prevented artificially. By means of inoculation, the immune system of the human body can be provoked to develop its own defenses against specific disease without the suffering and risk of actually contracting the disease. Weakened or killed disease microorganisms injected into the blood may arouse the body's immune system to create antibodies that subsequently will incapacitate live microorganisms if they try to invade. Next to sanitation, inoculation has been the most effective means of preventing early death from disease, especially among infants and children. SFAA p. 123 Molecular biology is beginning to make it possible to design substances that evoke immune responses more precisely and safely than current vaccines. Genetic engineering is developing ways to induce organisms to produce these substances in quantities large enough for research and applications. SFAA p. 124 The overuse of any given antibacterial drug can lead, by means of natural selection, to the spread of bacteria that are not affected by it. Much less is known about the treatment of viral infections, and there are very few antiviral drugs equivalent to those used to combat bacterial infections. SFAA p. 124 New materials that are durable and not rejected by the immune system now make it possible to replace some body parts and to implant devices for electrically pacing the heart, sensing internal conditions, or slowly dispensing drugs at optimal times. SFAA p.125
Developmental & Instructional Implications	Students of all ages tend to believe that many factors they consider important to their health and life span are also beyond their personal control. Benchmarks p. 346 Many of the ideas (at a VERY basic level) are included in the middle level benchmarks, but this indicator seems to want more details.
Examples