L&K academy problem 1
Kat’s case history
Age: 30
Occupation: Singer
Hobbies: Dancing
Symptoms
Admitted to hospital
12 June after fainting
at home.
Has experienced mild breathlessness over the last
year. Describes increasing difficulty with breathing out.
Has a cough.
Medical notes
Heavy smoker (cigarettes and cannabis).
1 Diagnosis
Use the lung disease data to decide what is wrong.
Lung disease data
Bronchitis
Main airways infected.
This makes the tubes
narrower.
Patients often feel unwell with a
temperature, cough and coldlike symptoms. Patients usually
feel better after 2–3 weeks.
Croup
Inflammation of windpipe.
windpipe
Thick mucus produced.
Rare in patients over 6 years old.
2 Symptoms
Describe how the disease could produce Kat’s symptoms.
3 Advice to patient
If lung function tests confirm your diagnosis, you will need
to advise Kat how to manage the disease.
Emphysema
Structure of airways and alveoli gradually destroyed.
Lung tissue elasticity lost making it harder to push out air.
Suggest how she could modify her lifestyle to reduce
her breathlessness, and what she could do to get
more oxygen into her blood.
Make sure you explain in detail why each of your
suggestions would work.
normal alveoli
Air in
Air in
Air out
Activity from the Live & Kicking unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2009
alveoli in
emphysema patient
Air out
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L&K academy problem 1
Teachers’ guide
Goal
The problem targets understanding part of the Big Idea:
Cells.
Marking guide
APP L5
 Your respiratory and circulatory systems are specialised
to deliver oxygen to cells.
Uses abstract ideas or models or more than one step when describing processes
or phenomena, e.g.
• emphysema is causing Kat’s symptoms
• her alveoli are being destroyed
• so she feels breathless.
 Small molecules, like oxygen, diffuse into your blood
quickly because your lungs have a large surface area
and a good blood supply.
APP L6
APP links
The problem could be used to assess achievement
against criteria in the ‘explanations’ strand of AF1.
Mission
If you are using the APPREND Mission Booklets, the student
outcomes will allow you to give feedback on the ‘What if?’
and ‘Solve it’ sections of the L5H–7 mission: ‘Master cells’.
Activity from the Live & Kicking unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2009
Uses abstract ideas or models or multiple factors when explaining processes or
phenomena, e.g.
• emphysema is causing Kat’s symptoms
• her alveoli are destroyed so she has a reduced surface area for gas exchange
or it is harder to push stale air out of her lungs so less fresh air enters
• so she struggles to top up her red blood cells, or she feels breathless
and offers straightforward advice like:
• she should stop smoking to prevent further damage
or she could give up singing, dancing and other exercise to reduce her body’s
energy needs, so she needs less oxygen for respiration.
APP L7
Makes explicit connections between abstract ideas and/or models in explaining
processes or phenomena, e.g.
• emphysema is causing Kat’s symptoms
• alveoli are made of thin cells surrounded by capillaries to allow fast diffusion
but Kat’s are damaged so she has less surface area for gas exchange
or it is harder to push stale air out of her lungs so less fresh air enters and the
airspaces in her lungs contain less oxygen
• the changes make diffusion slower, so she struggles to keep her red cells
topped up, or deliver oxygen to cells for respiration
and advice that would help Kat cope, for example:
• use an oxygen mask to increase the amount of oxygen in the alveoli, which will
give faster diffusion so more oxygen can be delivered to her cells
or use medication to open her airways
or exercise her breathing muscles to strengthen them so that more air passes in
and out of her lungs, which will give faster diffusion
• or, use medication or a blood transfusion to increase her red cell count so that
oxygen is picked up from her lungs faster.
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L&K academy problem 2
Matt’s case history
Matt is a promising 400m runner, but
since he joined the Academy his
body mass has plummeted
and he is constantly tired.
Damage
Normal small intestine
Matt’s doctor asked him to
swallow a ‘pill cam’. This took
a series of photos as it
moved through his
intestines.
The inside of Matt’s small intestine is not as it should be.
Matt’s doctor used these diagrams
to explain what was wrong.
But he went too fast, and
Matt couldn’t take it in.
It’s your job to make sure he understands what’s wrong.
Make some notes to cover everything you need to tell him.
1 Diagnosis
What do the images show?
images courtesy of Coeliac UK.
Matt’s small intestine
2 Symptoms
How could the damage produce his symptoms?
3 Advice to patient
Matt needs to increase his body mass and energy levels.
Advise him how that could be done.
Explain in detail why your suggestions would work.
Extension
Matt’s problem began when he joined the Academy.
He started eating more foods containing gluten, but didn’t
realise he was allergic to it. Find out what sorts of food he
should avoid in future to ensure his small intestine recovers.
Activity from the Live & Kicking unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2009
This page may have been changed from the original
L&K academy problem 2
Teachers’ guide
Marking guide
Goal
The problem targets understanding part of the Big Idea:
Cells.
 Your digestive and circulatory systems are specialised
to deliver nutrients to cells.
 Small molecules, like glucose, diffuse into your blood
quickly because your small intestine has a large surface
area and a good blood supply.
APP links
The problem could be used to assess achievement
against criteria in the ‘explanations’ strand of AF1.
Mission
If you are using the APPREND Mission Booklets, the student
outcomes will allow you to give feedback on the ‘What if?’
and ‘Solve it’ sections of the L5H–7 mission: ‘Master cells’.
Activity from the Live & Kicking unit © upd8 wikid, built by cracking science 2009
APP L5
Uses abstract ideas or models or more than one step when describing processes
or phenomena, e.g.
• lack of villi is causing Matt’s symptoms
• he can’t take in nutrients fast enough.
APP L6
Uses abstract ideas or models or multiple factors when explaining processes or
phenomena, e.g.
• lack of villi is causing Matt’s symptoms
• his villi are destroyed so he has a reduced surface area for nutrient uptake
and can’t absorb all the nutrients from his food
and offers straightforward advice like:
• feed ready digested food straight into his bloodstream
or get him to keep warm and rest so he can manage with fewer nutrients.
APP L7
Makes explicit connections between abstract ideas and/or models in explaining
processes or phenomena, e.g.
• lack of villi is causing Matt’s symptoms
• the small intestine wall is normally folded into villi, which are filled with
capillaries, and the cells that cover the villi are covered with microvilli
• nutrients should diffuse into blood rapidly across this large surface area
• the changes in Matt’s intestine make diffusion slower, so he can’t get the
nutrients he needs for growth and repair or to release energy by respiration
and advice that would help Matt increase his body mass:
• feed ready digested food straight into his bloodstream like glucose, amino
acids, fatty acids, glycerol, vitamins and minerals
or get him to keep warm and rest so he doesn’t need to release so much
energy from respiration and can manage with fewer nutrients.
This page may have been changed from the original