Fighting infection: reducing infection – unit plan
We all get sick from time to time, especially over the winter months. The classroom, in particular, seems to be a breeding ground for coughs, colds and flu. How do we get sick? Why do a number of people get sick at the same time? Can we prevent this from happening? Our content on fighting infection assists teachers to get across important science ideas about infection and how we can reduce or stop diseases from spreading.
Sick child
We all get sick from time to time and don’t feel too good. At this time, our bodies are busy working to make us well.
Overarching learning outcomes of this teacher resource integrate:
understandings about how infection spreads and that our bodies work to fight infection (scientific knowledge)
investigation into how we can help to fight and reduce specific diseases (scientific practice)
understanding that scientific knowledge can be used to help people (nature of science)
Students will meet these learning outcomes by:
identifying and classifying microorganisms
researching information on infection and vaccination
experimenting to see how diseases spread and how they can be reduced
exploring Māori medicine (rongoa Māori)
debating ethical issues related to vaccination.
Download the unit plan (see link below).
Related content
Explore some of the related important science ideas and concepts behind learning about our reducing infection with these articles:
Activity ideas
These related activities below cover some of the big ideas in science relating to infection:
See the Fighting infection: the immune system – unit plan to explore how our immune system works and how it fights infection.
Useful link
This study has found that a virus can spread around a whole building within two hours of coming into contact with just one surface.
