How the Body's Immune System Responds to a Virus
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Margaret Mikel Robert Fulton Elementary School
5300 South Hermitage
Chicago IL 60609
l. Students will be able to make and explain illustrations that show how
viruses can appear as foreign invaders in the blood.
2. Students will be able to show how certain cells can recognize and
attack the foreign invaders in the blood.
3. Students will be able to show and explain how certain cells can
track down and devour the virus.
4. Students will role play how the immune system responds to a virus.
1. Large red cloth
2. Construction paper
4. Double sided magnets
1. Discuss the meaning of the human immune system.
2. Discuss what the human immune system consist of and where it is
3. Discuss how the healthy body's immune system works. Use the
chalkboard and other bulletin board drawings.
4. Discuss approximately when and where the AIDS-like virus was
5. Name some viruses that can break down the body's immune system.
6. Draw and cut out the following large letters in multicolors.
7. The letter V will represent the VIRUSES.
8. The letter T will represent the T-CELLS.
9. The letter B will represent the B-CELLS.
10. The letter K will represent the KILLER CELLS.
11. The letter A inside a circle will represent the ANTIBODIES.
12. The letters "SOS" will represent the emergency call sign.
13. One child should be the narrator for the role playing.
1. Three children will place their VIRUS signs on the red cloth which
represents the BLOOD.
2. One child will place his/her T-CELL sign on the blood and scream out
3. Three more children will appear with their T-CELL signs and place them
around the VIRUS sign.
4. Two of the children who had the T-cell signs will place the "SOS"
signs around the virus and scream out "Emergency-Emergency, B-CELLS,
5. The child with the T-CELL sign begins the attack on the virus.
6. A child with a B-CELL sign comes first and, with an arrow, shoots the
A-ANTIBODY at the virus which binds to the virus.
7. Three children with the K signs (KILLER CELLS) move around the blood,
track down the viruses, then DEVOUR THEM.
8. The children should remove the VIRUS SIGNS and thus ends the
virus in the blood.
9. Everything goes back to normal with one exception, the ANTIBODIES stay
in the blood. The antibodies remember the VIRUS and are ready to
attack immediately, should the virus ever appear again. Therefore,
once you get a disease, you are immune from getting it again.
AIDS - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a disease that breaks down
the body's immune system, which is the body's defense against disease.
Therefore, making a person vulnerable to opportunistic infections.
AIDS infects all ethnic cultures. The latest research indicates that all
ethnic groups around the globe are evenly divided in their involvement
with this disease.
1. Resource Unit for Family Life Education, 1988. The Board of Education
of the City of Chicago.
2. The Software Toolworks Illustrated Encyclopedia (TM) (c) 1991 Grolier
Electronic Publishing, Inc.
3. Library in a Book: AIDS, Flanders, Stephen A. and Carl N. Copyright
1991 by Stephen A. Flanders and Carl N. Flanders.