BloodPressureScientists

Author:EthanSelf
Datecreated:01/25/201610:44AMEDTDatemodified:04/23/201611:47AMEDT

Subject(s)

Science

Grade/Level

Grade10,Grade11,Grade12

Topic

BloodPressure,ScientificMethod,DataAnalysisandConclusion

Rationale/Context

Afterexaminingthebasicformandfunctionofthecardiovascularsystem's'pump'andtransportationsystem(heartand
arteries/veins),studentswillbegintoexploretherealhealthandphysiologicalimplicationsofmanagingahealthy
cardiovascularsystem,andthebiologicalimplicationsofcommonhealthailmentsandvariablesineverydaylife.
Thislessonwillfurtherstudent'sunderstandingofbloodpressureandtransportation,aswelltheimplicationsofa
distressedcardiovascularsystem.Studentswilldevelopcreative,independentquestions,utilizingbasicdiagnostictools,
andthancreatingaconclusivesetofideasandsuggestionsbasedonscientificfindings,recenthealthnews,aswellas
theirownanalyzeddata.Theavailablediagnostictoolswillbeabletomeasurebasichealthparameters,includingblood
pressure.Studentswillneedtounderstandhowtoreadbloodpressure,andwhatdifferentreadingsmean.

EnduringUnderstandings

Bloodpressure,althoughasimplediagnostictool,iscomplexinnature,includingthevariablesthatinfluenceandmodify
it.
Thescientificmethodhasmanycomponentsandisdynamicinitsabilitytoaskpurposefulquestions.

EssentialQuestions

Howdoeseverydaylifeactivities,suchaswalking,sitting,orevenclimbingstairsimpactbloodpressureintermittently?
Whataresomecritical,longtermvariablesthatinfluencesbloodpressure?
Whatconstitutesagood,accurate,unbiasedscientificexperiment?

Standards
LearningTargets/Objectives

Thesethreelearningobjectivesareessentialtobothunitandcourse'sprimarylearningtargets.Thesearenoncontent
based,butratherareinclusiveofallcontentandfocusoncriticalscientificandinterdisciplinaryskills.
#1.Icancreateanddesignapurposefulscientificquestionthatexaminescontentlearnedwithintheclassroom.
#2Icancreateascientificexperimentthataccuratelymeasuresandexaminesarelationshipbetweenanindependent
anddependentvariable.
#3Icananalyzeandevaluatedatafromascientificexperiment,anddrawconclusionsfromdata.
Studentswillalsopracticeandmasterusingvariousdiagnostictoolswithinbothlaboratoryexperiments.Theprimary
objectiveistoputintocontexttheimplicationsandunderstandingofhowbloodpressureisinfluencedbyactivity,health,
diet,bloodcomposition,andmore,andhowwecanmeasurethesechangesandevaluatetheneedforlifestylechange.
Theexperimentwillalsohelpsynthesizeandcompresstheefourweeksworthofcontent,includingtheprimaryfunction
andphysiologyoftheheart,blood,andveins,intoacomprehensive,yetapproachablemanner.

InstructionalMaterials

Iwillhavedigitalreadersthatmeasurebothbloodpressure(systolicanddiastolic)withintheclassroom.Foradded
accuracy,Icollaboratedwiththeschoolnurse,andsheagreedtomeasurestudents'bloodpressureatanytimefor
moredata.
Iwillhaveseveralhandouts,oneforfirstexperimentingwithvariablesinfluencingbloodpressure,aswellasahandout
thatsupportsstudents'developmentofaresearchquestionandcollectionofdatafortheirproject.
Iwillhavechromebooksavailablefordataanalysis,thecreationofstudents'presentations,aswellasforadditional
research.

INSTRUCTIONALPROCEDURES:
a.StartUp/Motivator

Thefirst30minutesofthisseriesoflessonswillbestudentsdelvingintobloodpressurebyutilizingblood(waterwith
variousadditivestocreatedifferentviscosity)andstrawstomeasurehowa)bloodviscosityb)peripheralvein
resistancec)distancefromheartinthebodyandd)bloodvolumeallinfluencebloodpressure.
Studentswillusestrawsandtheirmouths(noconsumingblood)toseehowtheforcerequiredtomoveblood(mimicking
bloodpressure)changesastheycreatevariousmodelstoreplicatebloodpressure.
Attachments:
1. BloodPressure.pdf

b.LearningComponents

Afterthemodelingactivity,Iwillreviewstudents'answersaswellasteachaminilessonregardingbloodpressure,how
itismaintainedthroughoutthebody,andseveralhealthconcernsregardingbloodpressure.
Studentswillhavechoiceincreatingindependent,orsmallgroupprojectsthatexamineaspecificvariablethatmight
influencebloodpressurethroughouttheday.Iwillmodelhowtocollectdatafromthedigitalinstrumentswithinthe
class.Usingthehandoutprovidedfortheclassproject,wewillhaveanongoingconversationregardingwhatis
accuracy,precision,andgoodbaselinedataforanexperimentaldesign.Studentswillhavetheremainderofclassto

Page 1 of 2

developscientificquestions,whilealsocollectingbaselinedataforthemselves.
Day2:
Myselfandmymentorteacherwilladviceandconferencewithstudentsregardingtheirfinalizedresearchquestion.After
weagreewithstudents'ideas,theirtreatments,andreplicates,studentswillhavefreedomfortherestofthedayto
completethefollowingobjectives.
1)Finishacompletedmethodologyfortheirexperiment
2)Measureanyadditionalbaselinedata
3)Measureexperimentaldata
4)Researchliteratureandwebsitesforinformationpertinenttotheirresearchquestion
Day3:
Studentswillhavemoretimetocollectfurtherexperimentaldata,continueresearchingfortheirproject,butalsoshould
focusondatacollectionandanalysisforcreatingtheirpresentation.
Thepresentation,tobepresentedbeforetheclassforeachgroup,willfocuson5components:a)therationaland
backgroundforagroup'sscientificquestionb)thegroup'smethodsc)asummarytableoftheresultsd)onegraphor
figurethataccuratelyrepresentsagroup'sdata,ande)analysisandconclusion.Forgreatercohesionandconciseness,
studentscanonlycreatea1page'digitalposter'usinggoogleslidesormicrosoftpowerpoint.
Day4:
Studentswillbeginclassbypresentingtheirgoogleposterstotheirpeers.Peerswillhavethechancetoaskquestions
abouttheirfindings,theirnextsteps(ifweweredoingafollowupstudy),andwillalsocompleteasmallevaluationslip,
wherestudentswilllisttwoconstructivestrengthsandweaknessesregardingthescientificquestion,poster,oreventhe
presentationskills.Ifnecessary,studentsandgroupscanusetheseslipstofurtherimprovetheirpostersforthe
followingclass,whentheywillbedue.
c.Homework/SelfDirected
Lear

Day1:Finishdevelopingresearchquestion
Day2:Finalizemethodologyandbeignresearch
Day3:Begindevelopingposter,andfinishresearch
Day4:Finalizeposterandutilizepeerfeedbackforimrpovements.

d.Summary/Closure

Theultimatesummaryforthislesson,despiteitslength,willbestudentsprojects,whichwillhaveanaccumulative,
summativeaspecttothecardiovascularsystem.Becauseoftherelationshipbetweenbloodcomposition,hearthealth
andanatomy,andbloodpressure,students'projectswilladdresscomponentsofcontent,skills,andprocessesfromthe
past5weeks.Havingstudentspresentselfdesignedexperimentstoclosetheunitprovidesadynamicmannerfor
studentstodemonstratetheirunderstandingofboththeprocessesandcontentrelatedtothescience.
Foreachparticularlesson,mysummarieswillbefarbriefer,andmorecoordinatedaroundfrequentcheckinswith
studentsastheycompleteworkandprogressthroughcomponentsoftheirresearch.Thus,differentgroupscanachieve
differenttargetsatdifferentpaces,providingamoresupportivestructureforvariousgroups,basedonresearch
complexityandgroupdynamics.

e.Accommodations/
Differentiation

Regardingthephysiologyofbloodpressure,studentswillapproachandunderstandkeywordsandprocessesthrough
groupcollaboration,activemodeling,andreinforcedresearch.Hencetheapplicationofcomplexwordsorideaswillbe
differentiatedthroughphysicalmeansoflearning,whilealsohavefurthercontextfromstudents'researchquestion.
Studentchoiceandpreferenceiscriticalfortheimplementationofresearchquestions.Studentswillhavechoiceover
theirresearchquestion,theirtreatments,andeventhemannerinwhichtheyanalyzetheirdata.Whilethethree
learningcompetencies,aswellasmyexpectationsforthepresentationwillcreaterobust,rigorousstandardsthathelp
structurethelearningexperience.

ASSESSMENT
AssessmentA

Theprimaryassessmentwillbestudents'finalizedposters,whichwilldemonstratetheirunderstandingofbloodpressure
inrelationshiptoastudentdesignedscientificquestion.Thethreelearningcompetencieswillguidetheirassessment
grade.
Iwillalsobeformativelyassessinggroups'researchquestions,theircollaboration,andtheirlearninghabitsasthey
completevarioustasksthroughoutthelessons.

AssessmentB
Reflection

Page 2 of 2