Microbes Rule!

Background and Rationale

Mt. Pleasant High School is a comprehensive high school located in San Jose, California. Nestled in the foothills of East San Jose it is one of 8 traditional high schools within the 17 schools supported by East Side Union High School District. Mt. Pleasant is a school in transition as it faces the challenges of incorporating Common Core embedded lessons into its current curriculum while facing the challenge of a decreasing enrollment due to the influence of charter schools and fewer school-aged children in the community. Though it has the facilities available to serve a much larger student population, this past year enrollment dropped below 1500. Despite this ongoing issue, Mt. Pleasant continues to serve a population where 66.2% are considered socioeconomically disadvantaged. ¹ One asset of the school is the diversity of the population which includes Latino, Asian, Filipino, White, and African American students. Mt. Pleasant also serves a high percentage of students with disabilities. Special needs students make up 14.9% of the school population which requires all staff members to be especially aware of how to serve the neediest of its students. Finally, Mt. Pleasant teachers are conscientious in the creation of lessons and activities that will aide in the success of its English Language Learners which total 47.0% of the school population. ² The school's Single Plan for Student Achievement focuses on this population since they make the greatest impact on the school's API (Academic Performance Index) score.

Our school is a Title 1 supported school and part of our attempts to reach the broad range of middle-achieving students will be performed by the AVID Program. AVID (Advancement via Individual Determination) has been a part of Mt. Pleasant since 1994 and its history of success like many programs has its peaks and valleys. Within the past year, our school has heavily invested in the program, seeking to improve teaching quality of AVID Methodologies through professional development, and increasing student enrollment in all AVID sections. This unit will support not only Physiology teachers with their content, but also AVID teachers looking for ways to incorporate science in their AVID curricula.

To meet the demands of college admission, students at Mt. Pleasant often choose to take a third and fourth year of science though it is not required for high school graduation. Students take Physiology for foundational knowledge as they plan to pursue majors in nursing, biology, kinesiology, or pre-medicine. Though the course focuses on anatomy and physiology, often pathology becomes a major focal point for our students who consistently relate physiological function to dysfunction. Thus, pathogenesis is often the most direct route for aiding students in their understanding of normal physiological function.

The integumentary system is a major focus for Physiology students within the first semester. After an introduction to types of tissues and membranes found in the human body, students study the skin as the first organ system. Helping my students understand that the study of Physiology includes understanding pathology is the key to keeping them engaged through the year. Thus, an objective for this unit includes, not only, understanding the anatomical and physiological function of the skin, but also to understand etiology of bacterial and viral skin disease. Over the course of the three week unit, students will engage in readings related to normal and resident microbes along with pathogenic microbes affecting the skin. Students will practice critical reading skills that will allow them to better access subsequent readings in their classes.

Beyond the pedagogical challenge of engaging students, reading skills and comprehension is always an obstacle to overcome. Despite the concurrent enrollment of my students in AP (Advanced Placement) classes, many continue to struggle with reading comprehension in order to participate in discussion, engage in activities, and deepen their understanding. This unit is designed to capture student's interests while teaching them foundational skills in critical reading, which I hope will transfer to subsequent chapters throughout the school year.

Finally, a recent WASC (Western Association of Schools and Colleges) visit to our school suggested the need for opportunities to share best practices, alignment of curriculum that is considered rigorous, relevant, and in-line with Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. This unit aims to provide teachers with a new approach to teaching Physiology. Its classroom lessons and activities answer the demands of the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards with regards to Structure and Function and Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems. ³ Teachers teaching Biology can adapt the unit and its activities to reflect their students and needs. English teachers can also adopt the readings for their students.