Activities
Implementation Rationale
While this curriculum is created for high school anatomy and physiology students, I believe it can be adapted to health, biology, and chemistry classes. This specific unit is designed for three to four weeks, with students meeting for 90 minutes every other day. I believe it is imperative to have students "buy–in" with education. The more the students buy into a teacher's unit, the more they will be willing to put forth the effort to learn. I see this constantly with my students. If my students don't see the purpose to learning a subject, they shut down and create negative energy in the classroom. Likewise, this curriculum needs to be presented in such a way that is enticing to the students. To start, I will utilize statistics to peak interest in my students. Since I teach only African American students the epidemiology data for hypertension in that demographic speaks for itself. It is likely that at least one half to three quarters of my students will have family members being treated for hypertension. Another possible "hook" for students is in the presentation of the unit. I plan on creating a banner, calling the classroom "Armstrong Medical School." I want the students to feel like they have what it takes to learn the same material as medical students. To bring this a step further, teachers could contact local laboratories and request a class set of disposable lab coats. These coats, which cost between $1–5 dollars each online, are bought in bulk at many laboratory, university, and medical facilities. Likewise, these institutions may be willing to donate some for your students. If applicable, you may be able to have each student decorate their own lab coat, or if only a class set it available, have students create their own nametags. The key for this unit is to immediately draw the students' attention.
This unit's activities are broken down into "acute" and "chronic." As with medicine, an acute symptom is something that comes on quickly, and can usually be treated and/or resolved in a relatively short period of time. For example, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a heart attack. A heart attack comes on relatively quickly (usually within a couple minutes to an hour), and can be treated quickly if immediate medical care is enlisted. Chronic, on the other hand, is usually long lasting with often little to no resolution. For example, chronic angina is chest pain that intermittently causes discomfort. This pain, usually due to low oxygen supply to the heart, can last for years without resolution. Acute activities will occur during one to three class periods. Chronic activities, however, will last throughout the entire unit. When presenting this unit to students, the explanation of acute versus chronic will provide a great teachable moment.
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