Pathogens and immunology

This topic covers a broad range of biological concepts that build on previous knowledge and understanding. Within this topic, students are introduced to a variety of pathogenic micro-organisms and need to understand the various transmission routes and methods of spread among populations and communities. The immune system is perhaps one of the most complex systems in the human body; students will need to relate previous understanding around cells and biological molecules to explain how antigens and antibodies interact and how both cell mediated and antibody-mediated responses can deal with invading pathogens.

The topic of pathogens provides opportunities to put scales and units of measurement in context; for example, appreciating the differences between the size of viruses, prions and cellular pathogens. Linking various named examples of pathogens to real life case studies and examples is essential for bringing this topic to life. There are many topical examples of diseases caused by the pathogens listed in the specification and the COVID pandemic provides an obvious recent example of disease transmission and spread.

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Teacher guidance

Quality AssuredCategory:SciencePublisher:yourgenome.org

A detailed set of resources produced by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute which help students to understand how malaria is tackled in an area where it is endemic. The resources provide problem based learning (PBL) for students to work in groups – they are provided with a scenario and need to develop a strategy to gradually eliminate malaria from an area. Students are required to work as a team, think critically and justify their decisions and proposals to the rest of the class. This is an excellent activity to develop skills of scanning, comparison and summarising of information, similar to that needed for the employer set project.

Quality AssuredCategory:Cross curricularPublisher:Centre of the Cell

Produced by Centre of the Cell, these resources introduce the concept of vaccination and the importance of herd immunity. Various activities and resources are provided, including those that relate to herd immunity, informed consent and development of a new vaccine. Of particular interest to T-Level Science may be the informed consent activity which deals with medical ethics and the declaration of Helsinki

Article

Quality AssuredCategory:SciencePublisher:Gatsby Science Enhancement Programme

This Catalyst article deals with the sometimes emotive subject of badger culling to limit the spread of TB. This is an excellent source of information for students to develop their critical thinking skills and evaluate sources of scientific data. This would be ideal to use as a way of generating discussion and perhaps leading on to a more detailed debate. Follow up research could be used to determine how widespread badger culling is and whether the scientific data is strong enough to support such action

Quality AssuredCategory:SciencePublisher:Wellcome Trust

Produced by Wellcome, this is part of their ‘Big Picture’ collated series of resources which explores several different aspects of the immune system. A video clip introduces the topic with clear and unambiguous descriptions and animations of the immune response. The resource collection also contains several information sheets that explore specific themes in more detail, for example, the immune system and pregnancy, ethical questions related to immunology and historical scientific contexts. The resources can be used to provide clear explanations that supplement student notes or other teaching resources and provide more depth and detail and context than is found in most textbooks

Information sheet

Quality AssuredCategory:SciencePublisher:Microbiology Society

A key skill need in the T-Level Science qualification is the ability to examine a series of reports and be able to summarise information. This document provides a detailed overview of what scientists are doing to combat a disease that was once considered to have been confined to the history books. From the detailed notes and discussion, students can be tasked with providing their own key summary of facts and possibly presenting this in different forms e.g. group presentations, scientific poster, article, etc

Quality AssuredCategory:SciencePublisher:Microbiology Society

Cholera is perhaps one of the best known diseases that is spread by vehicle transmission (faecal-oral route). This resource, by the Microbiology Society, details the nature of the disease, its mode of transmission, the societal problems it still causes in the world to this day and treatment/prevention methods. This would be a useful resource to have in the classroom as part of a fact-file of diseases that students can access. As a task, students can be asked to read alongside other sources and summarise key parts of the document in preparation for similar assessment tasks that may be required (e.g. employer set project).

External link

Worldmapper is a collection of world maps called cartograms, where territories on each map are resized according to the subject of interest.

This map animation provides students with a graphic way of visualising the spread of COVID across the globe, documenting the spread of the disease during the first 12 months of WHO data reporting, covering the period from 21 January 2020 to 01 January 2021. In this animation, each cartogram is shown proportional to the number of cases reported in each country. The absolute number of reported cases visualised in each map is documented in the number that is shown in the bottom left corner of the animation

From the U.S. Centres of Disease Control, this online game provides a highly engaging and realistic approach to teaching about epidemiology. Students are tasked with solving disease outbreaks whilst building strong critical thinking skills. Immediate feedback is provided when answering questions, including an explanation for an incorrect answer. This resource would make an ideal pre-topic task for students to complete, as it will allow them to build their understanding of how disease spreads and some of the complex considerations that are required to manage a disease outbreak

This website, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provides useful summary information and data on the occurrence and transmission of CJD. Tabulated data is provided which plots the number of CJD related deaths by year in the US from 1979-2018; this data could be used for graphical and statistical analysis by students and it raises interesting questions around why the death rate is increasing and whether the age-adjusted death rate shows any significant increase. Detailed information is provided on how surgical and laboratory instruments should be dealt with following exposure to biological materials infected with CJD, providing an interesting context for the work

A short film produced by the BBC for their Teach website and featuring Dr. Michael Mosely. The film examines the nature and spread of the disease and includes a fascinating summary of how the parasite can alter the behaviour of laboratory rats – with implications for how it could affect the behaviour of humans that are infected. The film clip is short (4:17) and could be used as an introduction to parasitism and mutualism.

A collection of short video films that use CGI graphics to demonstrate various aspects of the immune system including immunology of the lung, production of antibodies, skin barriers and immunology of the gut mucosa. The videos are high quality and provide a realistic and dynamic way of viewing some of the complex process that underpin the immune response.