Influenza

Activity: Vaccine

Buzz Activity #1 ( >2 minutes):

Generate student interest by asking questions like "When was the last time you remember getting a vaccine?" "Do you remember which one it was?" "Have you ever gotten sick from getting a flu shot?" etc. Solicit an anecdote or short story from one or two students.

Activity #2 - Jigsaw (35-40 minutes):

Teacher notes:
In this section a "jigsaw" activity is used to teach students about the flu vaccine. Assume there is a class of 20 students. The class is divided into four groups of five students each. Each group should be carefully chosen and have a good range of ability levels. Each group will become an "expert group" in one of the topics listed below. To save time, information from the websites listed could be printed out and/or edited and given to students instead of sifting through the sites themselves. Students should be given a time limit (~15-20 min) to read, research and come up with 3-5 key points and explanations for their topic that they all agree on. Then one person from each expert group is assigned to another new group. This can be done by students in each group counting off numbers (ex - 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) and then all the #1s from each group reassemble into a new group, etc. Then the student in the expert group for the first topic should take 3-4 minutes to explain their topic to other students. Sometimes it is a good idea to time these sections because some students go on indefinitely while others may read a few lines off of their notes and be finished. It is important for students to start with the first topic and then move progressively through each one for coherence. In jigsaw activities, teacher interaction is crucial. He/she should ask and/or answer questions of the group members. Assessment of a short quiz could follow the next day to hold students accountable for information.

Expert groups:

How vaccines prevent disease (biological/immunological basis)
How the flu vaccine is predicted and produced
Biological basis for why the flu vaccine changes every year
Research and prospects of H5N1 vaccine

Useful websites:

Expert Group 1: How vaccines prevent disease (biological/immunological basis)

Useful websites:
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/
http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR
http://biomicro.sdstate.edu
(This site could be a difficult read even for AP Biology students but it is an option to include it if students are at such a level. Pages 3077-3079 are the details of different types of vaccines. Time adjustment for this activity would be an issue here)