The Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The Invasion of the Body Snatchers

A WebQuest for 9-12th Grade (Science)

Connie Schultz

Introduction

You have just been promoted from a routine phagocyte to chief bodyguard for Kid Retro, a Rock Star. He has just gotten back from a visit with his sister and 5 year old nephew. Miraculously, it has been three days and he hasn’t developed any symptoms of any disease caught from the little rugrat. You are ready to relax and take a little vacation before Kid Retro heads out on a world wide tour. Suddenly red alarms go off from scout cells all over Kid Retro’s body. Some sort of a foreign invader has arrived. You have two days to identify the foreign invader, find out a way to destroy it before Kid Retro develops symptoms, and prevent the tour from being cancelled. All of your resources will be taxed to discover a way to fight off this menace…to prevent the invasion of the body snatchers.

The Task

In order to destroy the invader before it takes over all of Kid Retro’s cells you will need to prioritize your objectives. These will include:

· Research the two most likely suspects – bacteria and viruses

· Discover how they enter the human body

· Have a basic understanding of antigen and antibody reactions and the immune response

· Narrow your search down to a specific invader

· Research the best way to fight off the invader

· Prevent the invasion of the body snatchers

To perform this task you will need to use your textbook as well as look on the web for possible clues.

The Process

1. You will be assigned to a group of three students to accomplish the task. Each person will be researching a different aspect in an effort to save Kid Retro before his tour has to be canceled.

2. Team member 1: The Microbiologist – It is your task to research the common bacteria that children often have. First you will research bacteria, then how they cause infections. When you have completed your task, meet with your team to see if it will be useful information. You may use your book. You may also find important information on the following web sites.

The following website provides information about the general characteristics of bacteria including their size, shape, and food sources.

http://www.microbe.org/microbes/bacterium1.asp

The following site provides information about germs including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa..

http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/germs.html

3. Team member 2: The Virologist – It is your task to research common viral infections of children. First you will need to research viruses, then how they cause infections. When you have completed your task, meet with your team to see if it will be useful information. You may use your book. You may also find important information on the following web sites:

The following sites give information about viruses. These include information about what a virus is, how it functions, reproductive capabilities, and some common disease causing viruses.

http://www.microbe.org/microbes/virus1.asp

http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/germs.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/chicken_pox.html

4. Team member 3: The Immunologist – It is your job to research antigen and antibody reactions. Below is a list of definitions that you should become familiar with. You will need to discover how your body protects itself from any foreign invader, but specifically bacteria and viruses.

Definitions:

/ /
Click on any of the vocabulary words below to hear them pronounced and used in a sentence.
/ antibody
Definition: A glycoprotein produced in response to an antigen, such as a bacteria. Antibodies defend the body by destroying or weakening bacteria.
Context: Antibodies have the ability to combine with the antigen that stimulated their production.
/ antigen
Definition: A foreign substance (usually a protein) to which lymphocytes respond.
Context: Antigen is short for antibody generator.
/ immune response
Definition: The response of the body when it comes into contact with an antigen that leads to the formation of antibodies and sensitized lymphocytes.
Context: The immune response takes place when foreign proteins called antigens cause the production of antibodies.
/ inflammation
Definition: The pain, heat, and swelling of an injured area; acts to clear an area of infecting microbes and dead tissue cells so that tissue repair can begin.
Context: Inflammation refers to a localized protective response to tissue injury or destruction.

· T cells

· B cells

· Memory cells

The following site will be very helpful. Take note of the slides labeled:

The Immune System, Markers of Self and Non-self, Mounting an Immune Response, and Immunity: Short- and Long- term cell memory

http://press2.nci.nih.gov/sciencebehind/immune/immune02.htm

5. After the completion of research in the previous material, the team should present your instructor with information on appropriate material. If your teacher is satisfied that you have an understanding of the material you are ready to move forward in your quest.

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Congratulations! You have researched your material, and have a grasp of the daunting task in front of you. Just when you think it is hopeless, you get a break. One of the scout cells comes and tells you that they have evaluated how the body snatcher is performing. It is entering cells, and forcing them to make more of the body snatching cells. The body snatcher isn’t even living! It appears to be nothing more than a reproducing machine. You gasp, as you realize the importance of this information!

6. You must now evaluate the information that you have learned to decide if the invader is a bacteria or a virus. Write a brief paragraph for your teacher explaining which pathogen you believe Kid Retro has encountered. She will tell you if you can continue or if you need to do more research.

*****************************************************************************************************************,

You are Correct, it is a virus.

Oh No! Not a virus! With bacteria, at least Kid Retro could take antibiotics. But if it is a virus you will have to depend on the immune system to protect him. With only two days until the world wide tour, the situation looks very bleak. Quickly you call Scotty, your ace security guard. You instruct him that you are looking for a virus. He tells you that he will start to scan the body, to see if the culprit has been caught on tape. Within minutes, Scotty calls to tell you that a virus was seen entering the respiratory tract. You quickly download the picture and get the good news and the bad news.

7. Below is a picture of the virus that has infected Kid Retro. You will need to look at the following web link to identify the virus.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/Images/Fenner/herpes2.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/dis-faqs-gen.htm

8. If you think you have correctly identified the virus, go tell your teacher your diagnosis. If you are correct, you will be ready to finish your objective – eliminating the invader.

Now you have the good news and the bad news. The virus is just the common chicken pox. Unfortunately you are aware that it takes 7 – 10 days to recover from the disease. The disease is also difficult in an adult. You sit down and lay your head on your desk. You feel utter despair. That is when your immunologist walks in. As you start to describe your problem, the immunologist becomes excited. Some people have immunity built up to chicken pox. It is now your task to discover if Kid Retro has immunity. How will you find out?

9. Inform your teacher how adults may be immune to chicken pox. If you have successfully completed this part of the quest then Kid Retro is able to hit the trail. If not, he will be breaking out in an itchy rash while on his tour.

OUTSTANDING! You remember that somewhere in the body there are memory cells that will recall when Kid Retro had the chicken pox in first grade. After sending out scout cells, the memory cells were reactivated to active duty. In no time at all, the invader is destroyed. You have prevented …

THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS!!!!

______

Evaluation

Your team will turn in a paper evaluating the information you have learned after completing your WebQuest. Your grade will be based on participation, ability to stay on task, ability to follow directions, and completion of your WebQuest. Please turn into your teacher a list of sources that you found useful in successfully completing your WebQuest. The following rubric will guide you on how your assignment will be graded. Each Category will be multiplied by 5 to give you a score for that category. The project is worth a total of 140 points.

Lab Report : WebQuest - Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Teacher Name: Dr. Schultz
Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Participation / Used time well in computer lab and focused attention on the WebQuest. / Used time pretty well. Stayed focused on the WebQuest most of the time. / Did the WebQuest but did not appear very interested. Focus was lost on several occasions. / Participation was minimal OR student was hostile about participating.
Question/Purpose / The purpose of the WebQuest or the question to be answered during the WebQuest is clearly identified and stated. / The purpose of the WebQuest or the question to be answered during the WebQuest is identified, but is stated in a somewhat unclear manner. / The purpose of the WebQuest or the question to be answered during the WebQuest is partially identified, and is stated in a somewhat unclear manner. / The purpose of the WebQuest or the question to be answered during the WebQuest is erroneous or irrelevant.
Background Sources / Several reputable background sources were used and cited correctly. Material is translated into student's own words. / A few reputable background sources are used and cited correctly. Material is translated into student's own words. / A few background sources are used and cited correctly, but some are not reputable sources. Material is translated into student's own words. / Material is directly copied rather than put into students own words and/or background sources are cited incorrectly.
Conclusion / Conclusion includes knowledge of material covered in the WebQuest. / Conclusion includes some knowledge of material covered in the WebQuest. / Conclusion includes little knowledge of material covered by the WebQuest. / No conclusion was included.
Data / Professional looking and accurate representation of the data learned in the WebQuest. / Accurate representation of the data learned in the WebQuest. / Accurate representation of the data learned with few mistakes. / Data is not shown OR is inaccurate.
Technology / Student demonstrates understanding of how to follow a WebQuest. / Student demonstrates understanding of how to follow a WebQuest with a little help from instructor. / Student demonstrates understanding with more help from the teacher. / Student never understands how to do a WebQuest.
Scientific Knowledge / Student grasps material covered in WebQuest and is able to answer related questions / Student grasps most of the material covered in the WebQuest and is able to answer most related questions. / Student grasps some of the material covered and is able to answer a few questions / Student has little understanding/or can not answer questions.

Date Created: Oct 03, 2004 08:30 pm (CDT)

Conclusion

At the conclusion of the Web Quest you should have a working knowledge of antigen-antibody reactions. You should understand how your body works to protect you from common infections. You should also understand the basic structure of a virus and bacteria and their common modes of action. In the process of the WebQuest you should gain knowledge on using the computer and internet sources.

The following list provides follow-up activities to further complete your understanding of antigen-antibody reactions and the immune response:

· Explain how blood types are important in transfusions

· Explain how the body is protected by the specific and non-specific immune response

· Write a paragraph on the purpose of memory cells

· Research diseases in which the immune system malfunctions such as: AIDS, Lupus, and Rheumatoid arthritis.

Credits & References

http://www.webquest.org/index.php

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=CustomizeTemplate&bank_rubric_id=28&section_id=5&

http://www.microbe.org/microbes/virus1.asp

http://kidshealth.org/kid/talk/qa/germs.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/ill_injure/sick/chicken_pox.html

http://press2.nci.nih.gov/sciencebehind/immune/immune02.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/varicella/dis-faqs-gen.htm

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ICTVdb/Images/Fenner/herpes2.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nip/diseases/varicella/faqs-gen-disease.htm

http://www.cartoonbank.com

Teacher Information

This WebQuest is for High School Biology or Anatomy students in connection with a study of antigen-antibody reactions and the immune response.

The student will also need to have a basic understanding of the structure and function or bacteria and viruses.

The students will need three days of computer time, (50 minute sessions), and one day to prepare report to turn in to teacher.

In addition to the WebQuest and associated internet links, class textbooks would be useful.

It is up to the teacher to decide when a student is ready to move from section to section. If this is printed, you can place the different tasks on separate sheets of paper. You may also choose to place each task on a different floppy disc. As a student completes a task they can obtain the next information or disc.

National Science Education Standards covered:

· Unifying concepts and processes in science.

Develop understanding and abilities related to form and function.

· Science as inquiry.

Develop abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry.

· Life Science.

Develop understanding of behavior of organisms.

· Science and technology

Develop understanding about science and technology.

Last updated in July 2008. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page