Twelfth Grade, Human Biology & Health Projects, Lessons, Activities (Page 2)

How Our Immune System and Vaccines Protect Us From Diseases

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

1

2

3

4

5

1 review

What happens in our bodies when we get sick? How do vaccines protect us from certain diseases? These are some questions that students will learn to answer in this lesson plan. Through a series of activities, students will be introduced to our immune system. They will learn how vaccines make use of our adaptive immune response to fight diseases. Read more

Model the Chances of Getting an Autoimmune Disease

Lesson Plan Grade: 9th-12th

1

2

3

4

5

2 reviews

Can genetic or environmental factors affect our chances of getting a certain disease? In this activity, your students will model how an existing predisposition can impact the probability of developing an autoimmune disease using dice and M&M's® candy! Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

HS-LS3-3. Apply concepts of statistics and probability to explain the variation and distribution of expressed traits in a population.

Predicting Thyroid Cancer Recurrence with Machine Learning

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

For cancer patients, remission–a period when the signs and symptoms of cancer are reduced or disappear–brings immense relief, but there is often a chance of recurrence, or the cancer coming back. Have you ever wondered how doctors can predict if cancer might come back in some patients? Thyroid cancer, a type of cancer affecting the thyroid gland, has a recurrence rate of about 5-30%. Depending on many factors, some patients may have a higher chance of thyroid cancer recurrence than… Read more

Preventing Outbreaks with Herd Immunity

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

What is herd immunity, how is it achieved, and what impact does it have on outbreaks? Students will explore these questions and more in this lesson plan. They will then use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model different levels of viral immunity in communities to understand how a population can reach the herd immunity threshold and the impacts that has on individuals and populations during a COVID-19 outbreak. Remote learning adaptation: This lesson plan can be conducted remotely. … Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
HS-LS2-8. Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species' chances to survive and reproduce.

Sleep Tracking: The Brain and Circadian Rhythm's Role in Sleep

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Everybody sleeps, but not everybody has good quality sleep. Sleep is essential for the brain, but how do our daily choices impact sleep? In this science project, you will experiment and explore factors that influence your nighttime sleep schedule. Read more

Testing Gait Symmetry with Uneven Loads

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

The way humans walk—our gait—is usually fairly symmetrical. Each step we take with the left foot is similar in length and timing to the step with the right foot. This symmetry makes walking efficient and reduces stress on the muscles and joints. But what happens when the body is challenged by an uneven load, such as carrying groceries in one hand or holding a backpack on one shoulder? Biomechanics research shows that unequal weight distribution can disrupt gait symmetry, forcing one… Read more

Tracking COVID-19's Genomic and Clinical Evolution

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Over time, viruses evolve. Their evolution is influenced by both neutral drift, the natural mutation rate of the virus, and selective pressure from the hosts' immune systems. Scientists study a virus's genomic evolution—the changes at the nucleotide and amino acid level—to better understand how the virus is spreading and the clinical implications. You can use public databases and tools to do the same type of tracking and analysis of COVID-19 that scientists around the world do. … Read more

Use Machine Learning to Identify Lyme Disease-Transmitting Ticks

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Ticks are a growing public health concern in North America, as their populations and the diseases they carry, like Lyme disease, are on the rise. But how can we help people identify the ticks they encounter to reduce their risk of infection? With artificial intelligence! In this project, you will gather image data of three different tick species and use a convolutional neural network (CNN) to classify them. You will also apply image augmentation techniques to expand and enhance the dataset,… Read more

Comparing COVID-19 Variants: A Real-World Look at the Effect of Mutations

Lesson Plan Grade: 6th-12th

1

2

3

4

5

4 reviews

We hear about COVID-19 variants all the time, but what is a virus variant, how do they come about, and why do they matter? Students will explore these question and more in this lesson plan. They will use SimPandemic, a free online tool, to model what COVID-19 outbreaks look like when communities are exposed to different COVID-19 variants and understand how genetic mutations in a virus can lead to functional changes. Read more

NGSS Performance Expectations:

MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-LS3-1. Develop and use a model to describe why structural changes to genes (mutations) located on chromosomes may affect proteins and may result in harmful, beneficial, or neutral effects to the structure and function of the organism.
HS-LS3-2. Make and defend a claim based on evidence that inheritable genetic variations may result from (1) new genetic combinations through meiosis, (2) viable errors occurring during replication, and/or (3) mutations caused by environmental factors.

Developing Images with X-rays

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

You have probably had X-rays taken at the dentist's or doctor's office, but do you know how the X-ray images are made? Images made using X-rays, also called radiographs, are considered to be relatively safe to take, even though they are made using a small amount of radiation, specifically electromagnetic radiation. Radiation is energy that travels through space as either waves or high speed particles. Watch this video to learn more about electromagnetic radiation and X-rays. X-rays can travel… Read more

Twelfth Grade, Human Biology & Health Projects, Lessons, Activities (26 results)

Explore Our Science Videos