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Building Immunity

45 minutes

Grade level: Lessons for 6-8

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Big idea

Students will explore how the body responds to infected cells, invading bacteria, and cancerous cells. They will take on the roles of different immune system cells and use communication, teamwork, and engineering design principles to come up with a solution.

In the Film

In Superhuman Body, doctors use genetic modifications to give killer T-cells new chemical receptors called chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) to attack cancerous cells. These modified killer T-cells are called CAR T-cells. While this is a major advancement, the body already trains itself to fight a myriad of threats by identifying receptors on the exterior of cells and then forming new receptors that can fight off new threats.

Objectives

  1. Students will act as B-cells and T-cells to identify an antigen and create an antibody from Legos.
  2. Students will communicate and work together in groups.
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Videos in this lesson

NGSS Standards

MS-LS1-3
Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.