Scheme of Work Cambridge International as & a level

11.1.2 Explain what is meant by an antigen (see 4.1.3) and state the difference between self-antigens and non-self antigens.

11.1.3 Describe the sequence of events that occurs during a primary immune response with reference to the roles of:

• 
  macrophages
  
• 
  B-lymphocytes, including plasma cells
  
• 
  T-lymphocytes, limited to T-helper cells and T-killer cells.
  

11.1.4 Explain the role of memory cells in the secondary immune response and in long-term immunity.

Learners can find the process of phagocytosis challenging to imagine. Help them by asking them to prepare a ‘flipbook’, to show how phagocytosis occurs. Learners require a small notepad, in which they complete or add small sketches on each page, each of which differs only slightly from the one before. By rapidly flicking through the pages, a moving image will illustrate the process. Learners review their flipbooks by comparing the contents with a published animation, e.g. http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072507470/student_view0/chapter3/animation__phagocytosis.html (I)

Learners in pairs brainstorm and list all the terms that they know are associated with the immune system. Terms such as ‘white blood cell,’ ‘antibody’ and ‘infection’ will be some expected terms. Pairs of learners then join with another pair and combine their lists of terms in rank order based on the strength of learners’ understanding of the terms. The first word on the list is the term learners feel most confident about. Other terms are added in order of understanding so the least understood term is last. Learners submit their top three words to the class board, possibly in the form of a word cloud (using www.menti.com/).

Give a series of laminated cards to pairs of learners that show the key events of an immune response. Include some cards that show electron micrographs of different blood cell types (sourced from websites such as https://webpath.med.utah.edu/HISTHTML/EM/EM.html#1). Learners work together to determine the order of events, and the cells involved, in an immune response. Learners explain their choices and compare different learners’ judgements. Extend this so that learners play a part in a story of an infection and the primary immune response in a class role play.