John M. Adamovich
The unit I am writing about is to teach the students the different ways in which one can prevent illnesses and diseases. One of the ways in which a person may prevent a disease is through vaccination. This unit aims to teach students various ways in which to prevent diseases, and also to educate them to form their own opinions on vaccinations. Is vaccinating truly the best way to prevent an illness or disease from spreading? Is it 100% safe? Are there any side effects to vaccinations? All of these questions and more are presented throughout this unit and allow the students to develop their own opinions, based upon facts and true life scenarios presented to them. By the end of the unit, students must form their own position on whether or not vaccines should continue to be used. Using information that they find and sources they may choose to use to support their claim, they can defend their position statement.
Students enter the unit with a background of basic information regarding human body systems and functions. The systems taught prior to this unit are primarily the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems. These sections introduce the basic understanding of how the human body creates its own antibodies and naturally protects itself from infection of deadly diseases.
(Developed for Intro to Health Science, grade 9, and Health Science, grade 10; recommended for Anatomy and Physiology, and Health/Health Science, grades 7-12)
