Lesson 2.1.1: Initial Model: Milk Digestion Mystery
Name: ___________________________________________________
Directions: Use the boxes below each image to create a model that might explain what is going on inside each
person’s body when they drink milk.
Be sure to draw and label observable and unobservable factors.
Case 1: Mika
Mika is a newborn baby who has
severe diarrhea after every attempt to
breastfeed or drink formula made
from cow’s milk.
Case 2: Johannes
Johannes is a 19-year-old college
student in Finland who has dairy
products multiple times a day. He
grew up drinking milk during his
school lunches and enjoys a glass of
piimä, or buttermilk, with many of his
meals. He experiences no intestinal
discomfort.
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Case 3: Mei
Mei is a 33-year-old woman who had
no problem drinking milk as a baby,
but now has trouble with it. Anytime
she has dairy products, she
experiences abdominal pain, nausea,
and diarrhea 30 minutes to 2 hours
later.
Explain why these three individuals have different experiences with milk. *Use the questions below this box to
help you (you do NOT need to answer all of them- they are JUST there to guide your thinking).
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What is happening that we can’t see?
What’s going on inside their bodies?
What factors influence how each person experiences milk?
Why do you think each trait exists?
How do you think the person got the trait (is it inherited, environmental, etc.)?
Do you think any of these people’s future children will have the same trait?
Based on what we have learned so far, complete an initial hypothesis for why you think
humans experience milk in such different ways:
If… _______________________________________________________________________________________
Then… someone might be lactose-intolerant (unable to digest milk)
Because… _________________________________________________________________________________
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