Lesson Plan: The Nonspecific Immune Response Biology
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe how the body prevents pathogen entry and explain ways in which the nonspecific immune system responds to a pathogen invasion.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- state the role of the nonspecific immune response as an immediate response to infections,
- describe the body’s first line of defense against pathogen entry, including skin, cerumen (ear wax), tears, mucus, saliva, stomach acid, and expulsive reflexes,
- recall that phagocytosis and inflammatory responses are examples of the second line of defense,
- describe the stages of phagocytosis, including the role of phagocytes and lysosomes,
- describe the role of white blood cells and histamine in the inflammatory response.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- the components of the immune system,
- the skin as a barrier to infection,
- the role of ciliated cells in the trachea in protecting the lungs.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- antigens and the specific (adaptive) immune response.
