Science lesson plan · 9th grade (Year 10 in England) · 45 minutes
Vaccines, antibiotics and painkillers: what each can do
Human body and health
CCSS NGSS.HS-LS1-2CCSS NGSS.SEP 7England: GCSE Combined Science: Infection and response
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Vaccines, antibiotics and painkillers: what each can do.
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Viruses, bacteria, fungi and protists that cause disease
Leads to: Antibodies, memory cells and the secondary immune response
Materials: Stopwatches, Body diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Viruses, bacteria, fungi and protists that cause disease). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- What type of pathogen causes Salmonella food poisoning? (virus / bacterium / fungus / protist) → bacteriumPrompt: Antibiotics do not work against viral diseases.
- Under ideal conditions a bacterium divides every 30 minutes. A drop of milk starts with 10 bacteria. How many bacteria will there be after 3 hours? → 640Prompt: How many divisions happen in the time?
- Measles spreads quickly in crowded rooms. How? (by mosquito bites / through contaminated soil / through plant roots / droplets in the air from coughs and sneezes) → droplets in the air from coughs and sneezesPrompt: It is a virus that infects the airways.
Hook · 5 min
- Ask everyone to find their pulse, then jump for 30 seconds and find it again.
- Share the objective: Vaccines, antibiotics and painkillers: what each can do. Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Which type of medicine is described: relieves a headache during flu but does not cure it?
- Step 1: Painkillers relieve symptoms but do not kill pathogens.
- Step 2: So the answer is: painkiller
- Answer: painkiller
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Which type of medicine is described: gives cells mRNA instructions to make a harmless viral protein? (vaccine / antibiotic / painkiller) → vaccinePrompt: Does it prevent, cure a bacterial infection, or only ease symptoms?
- In one region, measles vaccination coverage rose from 61 % to 96 %. Yearly measles cases fell from 53 to 4. Which conclusion is best supported? (Cases fell sharply after vaccination rose, which supports the vaccine reducing measles. / Vaccination has no link with the number of cases. / The data prove that measles has disappeared everywhere. / The vaccine made measles cases rise.) → Cases fell sharply after vaccination rose, which supports the vaccine reducing measles.Prompt: What happened to cases as coverage increased?
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- How did mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 work? (They changed the person's DNA / They contained live, full-strength virus / Cells used the mRNA to make the virus's spike protein, training the immune system / They were antibiotics) → Cells used the mRNA to make the virus's spike protein, training the immune systemPrompt: mRNA carries instructions to ribosomes; it does not enter the nucleus to alter DNA.
- In one region, measles vaccination coverage rose from 64 % to 94 %. Yearly measles cases fell from 56 to 6. Which conclusion is best supported? (The vaccine made measles cases rise. / Cases fell sharply after vaccination rose, which supports the vaccine reducing measles. / The data prove that measles has disappeared everywhere. / Vaccination has no link with the number of cases.) → Cases fell sharply after vaccination rose, which supports the vaccine reducing measles.Prompt: What happened to cases as coverage increased?
Watch out for
- Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
- Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Viruses, bacteria, fungi and protists that cause disease.
- Use concrete materials: stopwatches.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: Antibodies, memory cells and the secondary immune response.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-9.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder