Lesson

DATE: February 12, 2018 CLASS: Sec 3 - Biology

Plan DURATION: 60 minutes
TEACHERS: Elisabeth and Hadia

Objectives By the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:
- Name the formed elements of the blood (red blood cells, white blood
cells, platelets)
- Describe the main function of the formed elements of blood


Group Size Students will work in groups of 3-4. The teacher will select groups according
to class dynamics and complementary strengths. Students will choose their
&
roles from the following group roles: researcher, reporter, timekeeper, and
Materials leader.
- Researchers are in charge of finding reputable sources to answer
questions that arise as the groups work on the problem
- Reporters are in charge of recording all relevant information
- Timekeepers are in charge of ensuring the group is on-task and on
track to complete tasks in the allotted time
- Leaders are in charge of overseeing and organizing the group’s work,
ensuring all students are contributing equally, and reporting on the
group’s progress when necessary

This lesson requires 1 set of blood test results and per student. Each group
will also need access to the internet, through personal devices (e.g. tablets
and smartphones) or laptops (e.g. Chromebooks or computer labs), as well as
1 Investigation handout and a pen or pencil.

Cross-Curricular Competencies:

2. Solves problems
3. Exercises critical judgment
4. Uses creativity
8. Cooperates with others
9. Communicates appropriately

Subject-Specific Competencies:

1. Seeks answers or solutions to scientific or technological problems
3. Communicates in the languages used in science and technology

Time Lesson
Setup:
Before the class, arrange desks in groups of 4.

5 minutes Icebreaker:
Ask the class:
1. Have any of you been watching the Winter Olympics? What do you think of
the athletes?

10 minutes Introduction:
Have you ever heard of people cheating in the Olympics? What did you hear?
Why do you think they cheat? How do you think they cheat?

A big part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) job is testing
athletes to make sure that they aren’t cheating by using drugs or other
kinds of doping. Sometimes, that can be really hard to spot.

35 minutes Activity:
Overview: Students will take on the role of an IOC investigator and attempt to
determine the reason for a sudden improvement in performance in some of
their athletes.

1. Tell students the following story: You are a member of the
International Olympic Committee. As part of your job, you are testing
and overseeing athletes to make sure that they aren’t using any kind

of performance-enhancement techniques. In the last round of testing

before the competition, you noticed that a few of your athletes were
showing dramatically improved performance. When you analysed
their blood tests, however, all tests for performance-enhancing drugs
came up negative. How are these athletes suddenly performing so
much better than usual?
2. Break students into groups (as outlined above) and ask them to assign

each person one of the four group roles.

3. Ask all group leaders to collect 4 blood test results handouts and
distribute them to each member of their group.
a. Groups may choose to access the Investigation handout either
on Google Classroom through their devices or as a paper copy.
If groups choose to use a paper copy, the group leader should
collect one of these for the group at the same time.


 4. Instruct groups to first complete the “What We Know” and “What We
Need To Know” portions of the Investigation handout before
attempting to complete the Ideas portion.

5. While groups are working on their handouts, circulate through the

classroom to check on each group’s thinking and progress, asking
scaffolding questions as needed such as:
a. What do you know from the results of the blood testing?
b. What are each of the components listed? What do they do?
c. Which athletes show the most improved performance? What
do you notice about their blood tests compared to the other

athletes’?

6. Remind students to record all of their group’s thinking.

10 minutes Wrap-Up:
Circulate to each group, checking to make sure all groups have a reasonable
plan for the next day’s work. Ask check-in questions to ensure students are
on-task and prepared for the next day (e.g. “What did you accomplish today?
What do you need to get done tomorrow to find an answer?)

Assessment:
Students will be assessed according to their contributions to their groups
during observation periods (the teacher will circulate and take note of
students’ active and productive participation).



















 Lesson DATE: February 13, 2018 CLASS: Sec 3 - Biology
Plan DURATION: 60 minutes
TEACHERS: Elisabeth and Hadia

Objectives By the end of this lesson, the students will be able to:
- Name the parts of the circulatory system
- Explain the main role of the circulatory system
- Describe and demonstrate the flow of oxygen in the circulatory
system.
- Define the role of red blood cells in the circulatory system.
- Describe how oxygen helps the body produce energy.
- Explain how an increase in red blood cells would lead to enhanced
athletic performance.


Group Size Students will work in groups of 3-4 (same groups and roles as last lesson).

&
Students will need 1 Investigation handout and 1 pen or pencil each.
Materials
Each group will need a phone or tablet, and a the Circulatory System
handout.

Cross-Curricular Competencies:

2. Solves problems
3. Exercises critical judgment
4. Uses creativity
8. Cooperates with others
9. Communicates appropriately

Subject-Specific Competencies:

1. Seeks answers or solutions to scientific or technological problems
3. Communicates in the languages used in science and technology








Time Lesson

10 minutes Introduction:
Go over the problem introduced in the previous lesson.
- Ask students why they think the athletes were able to improve so
quickly based on the information provided the tables during the
previous lesson.

- If students have determined that the reason was due to the increase

the red blood cells, ask the students to research what is the role of
red blood cells in the body?

At this point, the students should return to their groups from last lesson, and
try to determine the role of red blood cells in the body.

40 minutes Activity:
Overview: Students will use their phones or tablets to research the role of red
blood cells, once they have the teacher will facilitate a discussion with each
group to get students thinking about the main parts of the circulatory system
and the exchange of gases in the circulatory system. The teacher will provide
a diagram of the circulatory system with the main parts. And the groups will
have to draw the flow of oxygen and co2 in the circulatory system.
Afterwards, the teacher will further facilitate a discussion with each group to
find out why the increase in red blood cells lead to a better performance.

1. Students will research the role of red blood cells in the body. Once
the students have determined that the red blood cells transport gases
(oxygen and CO2) in and out of the body, the teacher go move them
to the next step.

Soft-scaffolding: The teacher should be roaming around to ensure

that the students are getting the right information and redirect them

if they are going off-track.



2. The teacher should ask the students to determine what are the main

components of the circulatory system (soft scaffolding).

3. The students should determine the path of the gases in the circulatory
system.
Hard scaffolding: To facilitate the students understanding of gas
exchange in the circulatory system, the teacher will provide a diagram
of the main parts of the circulatory system. The students will have to
draw the path of the gases (see diagram in Appendix A).

4. Once the students have complete the diagram, the teacher should
facilitate the following discussion:
A. What do the increase in red blood cells have to do with the

increase in performance?

B. How can athletes increase their red blood cells?
C. The students should arrive to the conclusion that the reason
there was an increase in performance was due to the injection
of blood into the body, which increased the RBC count. This
allowed for extra oxygen intake which lead to increased
performance.

Note: The students may not know that this is called blood doping. This term

can be introduced during the wrap-up.





Wrap-Up:
10 minutes
The teacher will ask the students to share their conclusion with the other
groups. As much as possible, the teacher will try to orient students to each
others’ thinking and act as a discussion facilitator rather than a central actor
in the discussion. Once all the groups have arrived to the same conclusion,
the teacher will introduce the notion of blood doping. It will be related to
current blood doping issue at Winter Olympics.

Note: The teacher will call on a variety of students to contribute to the class
discussions so as to broaden the scope of responses included in the
discussion and more accurately assess students’ thinking and understanding.


Assessment:
Students will be assessed according to their contributions to their groups
during observation periods (the teacher will circulate and take note of
students’ active and productive participation) as well as to the class
discussion during the wrap-up.
Summative assessment: Groups will hand in their Diagram and Investigation
handouts for grading.







 Appendix A – Necessary Handouts


International Olympic Committee: Blood Test Results

Test Date: February 1, 2018
Event: Women’s 500m Speed Skating

Athlete 1 Athlete 2 Athlete 3 Athlete 4 Athlete 5

500m Time 38.42 38.37 37.94 38.96 38.01

(seconds)

Steroid Test Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative

Platelets (billion 243.2 189.3 301.6 194.7 324.1

cells/L)

Red Blood Cells 4.02 4.38 4.27 4.11 4.85

(trillion cells/L)

White Blood Cells 3.61 3.59 3.73 3.66 5.63

(billion cells/L)


Test Date: February 8, 2018
Event: Women’s 500m Speed Skating

Athlete 1 Athlete 2 Athlete 3 Athlete 4 Athlete 5

500m Time 37.38 37.01 37.79 38.84 37.22

(seconds)

Steroid Test Negative Negative Negative Negative Negative

Platelets (billion 463.7 587.3 346.1 193.1 398.7

cells/L)

Red Blood Cells 6.39 7.83 4.02 4.18 6.21

(trillion cells/L)

White Blood Cells 4.04 5.39 3.79 3.05 7.83

(billion cells/L)



Investigation Day

Group Members: ________________________________________________________

Pre-Investigation

What We Know What We Need To Know

Investigation

Possible Explanation Evidence

Post-Investigation

We believe the best explanation for this phenomenon is:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________.

The evidence we used to come to this conclusion is:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________.

 Circulatory System

Draw arrows to indicate the flow of blood in the circulatory system. Use blue to indicate
deoxygenated blood and red to indicate oxygenated blood.

Appendix B – Progression of Learning