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High School

DISEASE AND VACCINATION (UNIT 2)
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Lesson 3

Discovery and Development of Vaccines

Students investigate different ways that people become immune to pathogens. After introducing the concepts of active and passive immunity, students explore one example of each in more detail. The active immunity activities focus on vaccination and the different ways that vaccines are made. Passive immunity activities focus on herd immunity, including use of a computer model that simulates herd immunity. Students use statistics and graphs to analyze data and compare how different immunization rates confer varying degrees of protection on vaccinated and unvaccinated populations.

Lesson Questions

  • What is the purpose of a vaccine?
  • What are the different ways in which vaccines are made?
  • How do vaccines protect populations of people?

Lesson Files