Topic: Prevention and treatment of infectious diseases

Target group

7th‑grade students of elementary school

Core Curriculum

General requirements

IV. Reasoning and applying the acquired knowledge to solving biological problems. Student:

1. interprets information and explains causal relationships between phenomena, formulates conclusions;

Specific requirements

IV. Homeostasis. Student:

4. justifies that antibiotics and other medicines should be used as prescribed by your doctor (dose, hours of treatment and length of treatment).

General aim of education

You will learn how to prevent and cure infectious diseases.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• discuss the principles of prevention of infectious diseases.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

• The teacher reminds the participants of the classes what subject area the lesson will concern.

• The teacher asks students to name infectious diseases. He asks how humanity deals with these diseases..

Realization

• The teacher asks students to read the abstract themselves, paying particular attention to the illustrations.

• The teacher reads the content of command 1 from the paragraph”Treatment of infectious diseases” to the students. Then he initiates a discussion about the situation in which a physician should recommend the patient to use antibiotics with a wide range of action and the situation in which he should recommend the use of a narrow‑range antibiotic. Students compare the effects of taking antibiotics from both groups.

• The teacher reads the content of command 1 from the paragraph „Treatment of infectious diseases” to students. Then he initiates a discussion about the situation in which a physician should recommend the patient to use antibiotics with a wide range of action and the situation in which he should recommend the use of a narrow‑range antibiotic. Students compare the effects of taking antibiotics from both groups.

• Participants familiarize themselves with the content presented in the interactive illustration. Then the teacher discusses the issues with the students.

• Students, working individually or in pairs, carry out interactive exercises to check and consolidate knowledge learned during the lesson. Selected people discuss the correct solutions for interactive exercises. The teacher completes or corrects the statements of the proteges.

Summary

• The teacher briefly presents the most important issues discussed in class. He answers the additional questions of the proteges and explains all their doubts. Students complete notes.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

• Write a short note about the topics covered in the lesson.

• Run a survey at home. Ask each family member how many times in the year he used antibiotics. Compare the results with your classmates. Together, create a graph of the frequency of use of antibiotics in your families.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Prevention and treatment of infectious diseases

The most important elements of preventive healthcare are the avoidance of pathogens, compliance with hygiene principles, the consolidation and promotion of healthy lifestyle principles. Preventive healthcare encompasses all disease prevention activities. It consists of early disease detection, disease treatment and the reduction of complications.

Preventive vaccinations are one of basic preventive healthcare methods. Their main purpose is to mobilise the immune system to produce enough antibodies to defend the body against infections. Vaccinations are used against certain bacterial and viral diseases. It happens that the disease appears despite the use of vaccination, but almost always it is not that severe as it would be in unvaccinated people, and it does not entail dangerous health and life complications.

Some medicines can be bought at a pharmacy without any prescription. They are used in case of minor health problems such as running nose and cold. It should be remembered at the same time that medicines, vitamins and minerals, if overdosed, are ineffective or harmful. For example, overdosed vitamin C is excreted in urine, but vitamins such as A and D accumulate in the body and can disturb its functioning. Salicylic acid, a popular medicine against colds and headaches, thins blood and increases the risk of hemorrhage.

In case of severe cold, taking different medicines containing the same active substance may lead to its build‑up in the body. A medical substance present in the body in a too high concentration can be harmful to, for example, your liver, stomach, nervous system or kidneys. Medicines should always be taken according to instructions contained in their leaflet or provided by a doctor. You also need to be cautious when taking antibiotics which are used to treat bacterial infections only if so indicated by a doctor. Taking antibiotics to fight viral diseases (running nose, influenza) is not only ineffective, but can also be harmful to the body.

Antibiotics are bactericidal (they kill bacteria) or bacteriostatic (they inhibit bacterial growth). They can have a broad spectrum (range) of activity, i.e. to fight many species of bacteria, or can be species‑specific. The use of antibiotics has its dark side – being taken, they usually destroy intestinal microorganisms beneficial to our body. Their absence causes numerous digestive problems and reduces immunity.

The overuse of antibiotics made many bacteria, e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, resistant to medicines. This means that an infected person can be left without any help.

• Infectious diseases are caused by pathogenic organisms and spread through direct contact with a sick person, by droplet, food and sex.

• Follow healthy lifestyle principles to prevent diseases.

• Medicines, in particular antibiotics, should be taken under the supervision of a doctor.