Brittany Badean

Observation Lesson #3

Human Physiology - Immune System and Literacy

Science 7A
Performance Indicator 1.2: Explain the functioning of the major human organ systems and their
interactions
Major Understandings:
1.2a: Each system is composed of organs and tissues which perform specific functions and interact
with each other, e.g. digestion, gas exchange, excretion, circulation, locomotion, control, coordination,
reproduction, and protection from disease.
District Objectives:
-Explain how the immune system works to fight infection
-Explain the effect of Influenza, HIV, and other viruses on the body
Aim: What can we learn about viruses and the immune system through the use of two different informational
texts?
Mastery Objectives:
Students will be able to describe how the flu virus infects cells in animals (including humans)
Students will be able to identify and describe how your immune system reacts when the flu virus initiates
an infection
Students will make connections about the immune system and the flu virus through the use of diagrams
and a news article
Activator: Has anyone ever suffered from the flu virus before? Do you know anyone else who has suffered
from the flu virus? What types of symptoms did you have?
Teacher facilitated discussion will enable students to tell each other about previous experiences that they
have had with the flu virus. It is expected that some of the students may have suffered from the flu themselves
and a majority of the students will know someone else who has had the flu virus before.
Homework: 10 multiple choice questions to review the material
Materials:
Smart Board
Power Point Presentation
Whats in a Name Diagram (Informational Text #1)
Swine Flu: Virus invasion sets of a battle inside the body Newspaper Article (Informational Text #2)
Exit Slip
Procedure:
1. Students enter the classroom. They will be told to take out a writing utensil.
2. Activator: I will ask the students the activator questions that are listed above. This will help engage
the students immediately and give them some insight as to what we are going to be discussing for the
rest of the class.
3. While we are discussing the activator questions, I will pass out the Whats in a Name Diagram text.
4. I will then tell the students our objectives for the day. They will be listed on the power point
presentation that will be projected on the Smart Board.

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Observation Lesson #3

Practice reading and interpreting diagrams with informational text

Practice annotating informational text and identifying important ideas within a text
Making connections between two different informational texts
Understand how the flu virus causes infection
Explain how the immune system responds to an attack by the flu virus
5. I will tell the students to take a minute to look at the variety of information that is presented on the
Whats in a name diagram
6. I will then tell the students that I am going to model for them what I would like for them to do to help
them to better interpret the information on this sheet. They will be working in partners.
Partner 1 will read aloud the statement next to number 1. I will ask one of the students to read the
statement for me. Virus is inhaled and attaches to cells in the nose, throat and lungs.
Partner 2 (me) will then explain what this statement means in their own words to the partner that
read the statement. The flu virus enters your body when you breathe and it will only infect cells
in your nose, throat, and lungs.
Partner 2 will read the next statement, and Partner 1 will explain (Role Reversal)
Continue until finished with all of the steps in the diagram
I will tell the students that if they finish quickly, they are to read and explain other pieces of
information that are presented on the diagram (differentiated instruction - I know that some
students may work faster than others and therefore will complete the initial assignment before
other students in the class)
7. While the students are working, I will be walking around the room monitoring their progress and
listening to the types of explanations that they are giving each other. I will be listening for both the
types of explanations that the students are coming up with and any ideas that may be confusing them.
8. After 5-10 minutes (or noticing that all of the students have finished interpreting the diagram), I will call
the classes attention back to the front of the room and ask the students to make comments about the
types of information that they learned from the diagram and I will also ask them if there was any
information that confused them.
9. Students will be working individually and then in groups of four to discuss the next piece of
informational text. I will have already passed out the article to the students.
10. I will tell the students that they are now going to read and annotate a newspaper article from 2009
to
learn more about how your immune system responds when the flu virus enters the body. I will pull up
the next slide on the powerpoint presentation and explain that I am going to model for them what I
would like for them to do. There are three types of annotations that they will be using while reading the
article: Information that seems important, information that raises a question, and lastly information that
connects with what they have already learned or a previous experience that they have had.
I will have the first paragraph displayed on the Smart Board.
I will read the paragraph aloud and place the appropriate symbols next to the information as I read
through it
After finishing reading the paragraph, I will go back to the parts that I annotated and jot down
notes to further elaborate on my annotations
Students will then be told to follow the same procedure as they read through the remainder of the
article
**If I see that some of the students finish reading the article faster than others, I will tell them to
go back to their annotations and elaborate further in their notes AND to start looking for
connections between both texts that they have been reading.
11. I will walk around the room and monitor the students as they are reading/annotating the article.
12. Group discussion - 3-4 students - (Students in the first and third rows will turn around and talk with
the
students in the 2nd and 4th rows) - I will tell the students that I would like for them to share and discuss

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Observation Lesson #3

their annotations with the other students in their group. I will tell them to read aloud the specific parts
that they annotated and then discuss the types of annotations that they made
**If there is only ten minutes left and the students have not yet began their group discussions, I
will have them stop reading and begin discussing the parts that they have read through already.
It is essential that they get to talk with each other about what they have read.
**If they do not finish reading the article, their homework will be to finish reading and
annotating the rest of the article. The students will be able to discuss the rest of the article the
following day.
13. Summarizer: I will pass out the exit slip to the students while they are participating in their group
discussions. This will require the students to actively synthesize information from both of the texts that
they looked at today and to write down any questions that they have about the information that they read
today. I will collect the exit slip from them on their way out.
Summarizer:
In order to assess the students understanding, I will provide the students with an exit slip that will require
them to answer two questions using the information that they read about in class and one about the activity
completed. I would like the students to have 3-5 minutes to answer these questions.
1. What is meant by the quote A virus is a blueprint and a cell is like a factory. Use information from
both texts to help you explain.
2. Do you have any questions about the material you read about today? Write down 1 or 2 questions that
you have about the informational texts you looked at today.
3. Did you enjoy this activity? Explain.
Pre-Observation Questions:
1. I would like for you to pay attention to Domain/Elements: 2b (Establishing a culture for Learning); 3a
(Communicating with students); and 3c (Engaging students in learning).
2. This lesson falls under the larger Body Systems Unit that we are covering. This lesson also is geared at
promoting literacy skill development which is a major component of the new Core Curriculum Standards.
Students have already been introduced to the major functions of the immune system and the various types of
pathogens that can cause disease. The students most certainly have had some prior experience with the flu virus
and this will help to keep the students engaged and focused on the presented material.
3. This is a science 7 accelerated class. The students are very homogenous in terms of their intellectual ability,
work ethic, and desire to learn. There are no students with special needs in this class.
4. It is essential that the students have a deeper understanding as to how the flu virus causes infection in the
body and how your immune system responds to the presence of the virus. This lesson is also centered on
content literacy skill development and therefore I also want the students to practice interpreting and pulling
information out of two different types of informational texts: diagrams with captions and a newspaper article. I
also want the students to be able to make connections between the newly presented material in both texts and
previously learned material.
5. I am confident that the students will be engaged throughout the lesson because the flu virus is a topic that
they can relate too. Most of the students in the classroom have had the flu at one point in their lives, have
gotten the flu shot, or know someone who suffered from the flu virus. Therefore, I am confident that they will
be interested in the presented material. The students will be working individually, with partners, in slightly

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Observation Lesson #3

larger groups of four, and as an entire class. This will greatly increase the amount of student interaction that
takes place during the entire class period.
6. Although this is a very homogenous class, there are some students that tend to work faster than others. In
order to differentiate instruction, I am providing students with multiple tasks that they can work on if they
finish the initial assignment quickly. For example, when looking at the Whats in a name diagram: I will tell
the students that if they finish quickly, they are to read and explain other pieces of information that are
presented on the diagram. Please refer to steps 6 and 10 in the procedure.
7. I will know by the end of the class period if the students have been successful in learning the information that
I want them too. I am going to provide the students with an exit slip that requires them to use information from
both informational texts to answer a question. I will also be asking the students to write down any question they
have about the newly presented material or any part of the activity that they performed in class. This will
enable me to know immediately if there is any concept in particular that will require further explanation.
However, this will not be the only day that we spend working on material relating to this topic/content. We will
continue discussing and working on other activities to develop a stronger understanding of the flu virus and the
immune system. I will continue to monitor their understanding through the use of formative and summative
assessments over the course of the next week and a half. The unit will end with a formal test that will cover
content that was discussed in the two informational texts as well.