Objective
The focus for my curriculum writing is to introduce my students to advances in medical technology in relation to hypertension. Study of the circulatory system will set the foundation for my unit. As a Physiology teacher, I seek to engage and immerse my students into my subject completely. It is my daily goal to keep my students excited about the course in order to not only raise their understanding but, in a larger sense, keep them motivated to pursue a higher education. Thus, a curriculum unit that will engage my students and connect real-life applications is important.
My intended audience for this curriculum unit is an 11th/ 12th grade Human Anatomy and Physiology course. Students opt to take this course after successful completion of Biology and Chemistry as a third or fourth year of science. Often students in this course are interested in college majors related to the health field, i.e. nursing, pediatrics, occupational therapy. Others are simply interested in the body and all its mechanics. The subject of Anatomy & Physiology is introduced during Biology, often at the end of the school year. Thus, this unit can be modified for beginning Biology. Further modifications can make this unit appropriate for middle school levels as well.
Our textbook is Hole's Anatomy and Physiology 8th edition. The textbook is outdated and the current edition available is the 12th edition. Thus, I often supplement the class with web-based resources and text, as well as different learning modalities. This is important because students often have a difficult time reading and understanding our textbook, since literacy continues to be a challenge for us school-wide. In Physiology, my students are exposed to the fundamentals of the human organ systems and their functions. Cardiovascular system physiology is taught within a three-week period wherein students are introduced to the anatomy of the heart and the vascular system. In addition, students learn the flow of blood through the pulmonary and systemic circuit. Because the focus of my unit is hypertension, students will learn the cardiac cycle, the relation between pressure, flow, and resistance, as well as the major regulators of blood pressure. With this background, students will be able to better understand hypertension, the different types of hypertension that exist, and current treatments. To connect their studies to a real world example, students will be introduced to an implantable device that helps to lower blood pressure. This example will also serve an introduction to their own investigation into new technologies that treat cardiovascular disorder.
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