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Year 3: Antibiotics – Alexander Fleming
Age range: Year 3
Class:
Rationale:
This lesson introduces the reasons for taking medicines
National Curriculum and Framework Ref:
Year 3, Animals including humans:
-
identify that animals, including humans,
need the right types and amount of
nutrition, and that they cannot make
their own food; they get nutrition from
what they eat
Learning Objectives:
- To understand that medicines
can help us to get better when
we are ill.
- To know the story of the
antibiotic
- To learn that antibiotics can
fight bacteria which cause
infections
WALT – the history of antibiotics
Resources:
Date:
Subject:
Science
Cross curricular links:
History
Learning Outcomes:
All children should – Understand how
Flemming discovered antibiotics
Most children should – Retell Flemming’s
discovery accurately.
Some children should - Understand how the
story of the first antibiotic to be discovered
has helped people to become better.
WILF – I can talk about Flemming’s
discovery.
The story is in a separate factsheet but children could be asked to find details about
Alexander Fleming via an internet search.
Activity 1 – Newspaper template and pens for creating a newspaper article or
computers to create them on.
Introduction: (Teaching notes in blue, additional notes in black)
Discuss – What happens if bacteria and viruses get past the first line of defence and
the 2nd line of defence?
We need medicines.
Why might this happen? If micro organisms (bacteria and viruses) get past the first
line through to the 2nd line of defence sometimes the 2nd line of defence struggles to
get rid of the micro organism. This may be because the immune system has been
weakened by a previous illness or not eating the right food. It could also be because
the micro organism is so overpowering then the immune system needs help – Medicines.
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If it is bacteria that are causing the illness then the doctor will prescribe a medicine
that will help to get rid of the bacteria.
Ask the class to think of as many medicines as they can.
Ask if they know what the doctor prescribes to help fight infections caused by
bacteria – ANTIBIOTICS.
There are many different antibiotics because there are many different bacteria
that hurt our body and make us ill in different ways.
Some bacteria gives us sickness and diarrhoea: others can give us a fever or sore
throat etc. So depending on which bacteria it is will depend on which antibiotic the
doctor gives.
Group/Class activities:
Activity 1
Tell the class that there is an unusual bug starting in the classroom next door. Some of
the children are growing green hair from their ears! What are they going to do to try
to find out which medicines will stop it from spreading?
How did we find out that antibiotic medicines kill bacteria?
Read the story of Alexander Flemming from the fact sheet.
Activity 2
Can the class design and write their own article for the front page of newspaper telling
the world about Flemming’s discovery.
This could be done on paper or on computers.
Plenary: Check the understanding of the class by asking questions. Such as:
Ask the class to share their newspaper articles with the rest of class. These could be
put together to create a display.
Assessment
Through questioning, observations and factually correct information in their newspaper
articles.
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Fact Sheet
Once upon a time there were many people dying from illnesses caused by bacteria.
This was before your parents were born and even before your grandparents were
born!
One young doctor called Alexander Fleming was very concerned about so many
people dying from certain bacteria that he started to try to find out what could
be done to help them.
He began doing experiments with bacteria by growing them in a special dish.
(Remind them of the bacteria they have drawn in Lesson 1 Y1 and that they are
alive. If the bacteria have the right food and warmth can increase rapidly on
number.)
Once he had grown them he added different chemicals to the dish to see if they
would kill the bacteria but nothing would do so.
One day he was clearing all his dishes away and throwing them out because he was
going on holiday with his family and wouldn’t be back for 2 weeks.
When he returned from his holiday he found that he had missed throwing a dish
away.
As he went to pick it up he saw that the most amazing thing had happened. The
bacteria had been killed by a greeny blue mould! You may have seen mould on food
which is old, out of date. Sometimes it is white not always greeny blue.
So he made the mould into a liquid and tried it on his patients who were ill due to
bacteria infection but it didn’t work. They continued to be ill.
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A few years later a man called Chain managed to make a powder from the mould
that had killed the bacteria in the dish. He tried the mould powder on mice that
were ill with the bacteria and it worked! The mice got better.
Next they tried it on people and it worked. The only problem was they needed lots
of it. They had no idea how to make large amounts until someone came up with the
idea of using equipment that is used for brewing beer!
4 years later they were making such huge amounts of the mould that they were
able to treat many patients.
That is how the first antibiotic (as the medicines that kill bacteria are called) was
discovered. It was named penicillin after the name of the original mould.
Many more have been discovered since.
Background detail for story
Early 1900’s – Hospitals full of people dying from infections caused by bacteria
(discovered in 1870’s).
1928 – Alexander Fleming working on how to kill bacteria – was growing the bacteria in
dishes and using things to see what could kill them but found nothing until he went on
holiday. He had thrown away all the dishes but when he came back from his holidays he
found that one of the dishes that had got missed was growing a blue/green mould and
this had killed the bacteria in the dish.
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Could this mould be the answer they were looking for? So he made a liquid from it and
tried it on patients but it did not kill the bacteria on them.
1938 – Florey and Chain had a go but no success.
March 1940 – Chain manages to make a powder from the mould - Injected 8 mice with
bacteria and then gave 4 the mould powder. The four with the mould powder survived
and the others died.
Feb 1941 – Tried it on patients with success but needed lots of it and they didn’t know
how to make large quantities until someone had an idea and used equipment for brewing
beer.
June 1944 – made enough for 40.000 patients.
June 1945 – 250,000 patients.
1945 – Nobel Prize for medicine Fleming Chain and Florey.
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