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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Fever chill

http://www.sciencenetlinks.com/sci_update.cfm?DocID=251

A lesson plan for grades 6–7 Science

Provider: American Association for the Advancement of Science


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In this Science Update, students explore why cold chills accompany the cold and flu. Dr. Matthew Kluger of the Medical College of Georgia says that when the body has an infection, the internal temperature rises, which makes people feel cold on the outside. After the fever breaks, the temperature returns to normal—98.6. In order to combat this feeling, some doctors recommend drugs like aspirin, acetaminophen, and ibuprofen, which block the production of fever-inducing chemicals called prostaglandins in the brain. They won’t help you beat the bug that’s making you sick, but they will prevent you from running a dangerously high temperature. Science NetLinks provides a link to the audio file, a written transcript, and questions to engage students in discussion about how chills work to raise the body temperature and what other species do when they get infections. This activity also provides a link to Dr. Kluger’s article and The Mayo Clinic’s overview of fevers.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Science (2005)

Grade 7

  • Goal 1: The learner will design and conduct investigations to demonstrate an understanding of scientific inquiry.
    • Objective 1.01: Identify and create questions and hypotheses that can be answered through scientific investigations.
    • Objective 1.05: Analyze evidence to:
      • Explain observations.
      • Make inferences and predictions.
      • Develop the relationship between evidence and explanation.
    • Objective 1.08: Use oral and written language to:
      • Communicate findings.
      • Defend conclusions of scientific investigations.
    • Objective 1.09: Use technologies and information systems to:
      • Research.
      • Gather and analyze data.
      • Visualize data.
      • Disseminate findings to others.
    • Objective 1.10: Analyze and evaluate information from a scientifically literate viewpoint by reading, hearing, and/or viewing:
      • Scientific text.
      • Articles.
      • Events in the popular press.
  • Goal 4: The learner will conduct investigations, use models, simulations, and appropriate technologies and information systems to build an understanding of the complementary nature of the human body system.
    • Objective 4.01: Analyze how human body systems interact to provide for the needs of the human organism:
      • Musculoskeletal.
      • Cardiovascular.
      • Endocrine and Nervous.
      • Digestive and Circulatory.
      • Excretory.
      • Reproductive.
      • Respiratory.
      • Immune.
      • Nervous system.
    • Objective 4.02: Describe how systems within the human body are defined by the functions it performs.
    • Objective 4.04: Evaluate how systems in the human body help regulate the internal environment.
    • Objective 4.05: Analyze how an imbalance in homeostasis may result from a disruption in any human system.