Course title

Pre-requisite

Course description

Principles of Biomedical Sciences

Course Description:
This course is part of the Project Lead the Way Biomedical Sciences program.

This course provides an introduction to the biomedical sciences through exciting hands-on projects and problems. Students investigate the human body systems and various health conditions including: heart disease; diabetes; sickle-cell; hypercholesterolemia; and infectious diseases. Throughout this course students will have the opportunity to determine the factors that contributed to the death of a fictional person and investigate lifestyle choices and medical treatments that may have prolonged that person’s life. The activities and projects that are conducted during this course introduce students to human physiology; medicine; research processes and bioinformatics. Key biological concepts taught during the course include: homeostasis; metabolism; inheritance of traits and defense against disease. The experimental design process is also embedded throughout the duration of the course. This course is designed to provide an overview of all the courses in the Biomedical Sciences program and lay the scientific foundation for subsequent courses.

The Principles of Biomedical Sciences course (PBS) is divided into eight units designed to introduce students to the study of the human body and medicine. The following is a description of each unit in the PBS course along with the labs conducted during each unit.

Unit 1- Human Body Systems
Unit one provides the foundation and develops the theme for the course. Students are engaged by reading about a woman who dies unexpectedly. In order to determine how she died; the students are introduced to seven different body systems: cardiovascular; digestive; endocrine; immune; nervous; respiratory; and urinary. Students investigate the interrelatedness of human body systems and begin to develop effective skills in conducting internet research; documenting scientific sources; and summarizing key ideas.
Labs within Unit One
It is expected Students will:
~ Construct a life size human body poster; showing the location of major systems
in the human body and the organs that comprise them.
~ Explain the functions of different body systems and list the major organs and
functions within each system.
~ Work as a team member to create a visual and oral presentation to explain the
major features and functions of a body system.
~ Make a concept map showing the interconnections between two body systems.
~ Describe how multiple body systems are interconnected and how those
interconnections are necessary for life.
~ Describe how an autopsy is performed and the types of information it provides
to officials regarding the cause of death.
~ Explain the importance of confidentiality when dealing with patients; and
describe the major patient protections written into the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Unit 2 – Heart Disease
During Unit two; students focus on the cardiovascular system. Students look at the role of this system in maintaining homeostasis by examining the structure and function of the heart and the engineering principles of fluid mechanics in pumping blood efficiently. Students are introduced to experimental design and LoggerPro software to collect and analyze heart data including: heart rate; blood pressure; and EKG.
Labs within Unit Two
It is expected students will:
~ Build a pump that successfully moves 150mL of water from one location to
another.
~ Make two-dimensional drawings of the human heart labeling all important
structures.
~ Identify various structures that make-up the human heart and discuss their
functions.
~ Dissect a sheep’s heart; accurately identifying and describing the function of
the specified structures.
~ Compare and contrast the characteristics of different cardiac tissue types.
~ Explain how the four-chambered heart allows the heart to pump both
oxygenated and un-oxygenated blood without mixing.
~ Explain why heart rate; EKG; and blood pressure are important indicators of
cardiovascular health.
~ Explain what is happening to the heart muscle at specific times as evidenced by
and EKG.
~ Apply experimental design steps to investigate factors that influence heart rate
and blood pressure.
~ Identify basic components of human blood and explain the role these
components play in body system functions.
~ Explain the necessity for the small size of cells.
~ Apply their understanding of experimental design to create a procedure used to
investigate the relative size of cells.

Unit 3 – Diabetes
In this unit students investigate the serious effects a disease within one system can have on homeostasis in the body as a whole. The disease studied is diabetes. Students are introduced to basic chemistry; the biochemistry of macromolecules; and the relationship of these molecules to metabolic function. The causes; symptoms; treatments and effects of diabetes are studied as well as the life style implications associated with this disease.
Labs within Unit three:
It is expected students will:
~ Analyze food labels for nutritional content
~ Build and analyze molecular models and diagrams of atoms; molecules and
simple compounds.
~ Describe the role of chemical bonding in chemical reactions and the transfer of
energy.
~ Explain the process of calorimetry and how it is used to measure the amount of
energy in a food.
~ Perform calorimetric measurements on food items.
~ Explain why water is an essential component of human bodies.
~ Build models of carbohydrates; proteins and lipids.
~ Differentiate between the classes of macromolecules in terms of their structures
and functions.
~ Explain the role of indicators in identifying chemical compounds
~ Demonstrate an understanding of both Lock and Key model and Induced Fit
model of how enzymes link to substrates.
~ Explain the importance of enzymes on maintaining homeostasis in the human
body.
~ Explain how feedback systems are used by the human body to maintain
homeostasis.
~ Create a 3-D working model that demonstrates the role of insulin in
transferring glucose from blood into cells.
~ Explain the causes; symptoms; effects and treatments of both Type I and Type
II diabetes.
~ Describe nutritional requirements of diabetic teens as compared to their
non-diabetic peers.

Unit 4 – Sickle Cell
Genetics is the focus of this unit which uses Sickle Cell Disease as a tool for students to gain an understanding of the inheritance of traits. Students are introduced to bioinformatics as they explore the role of genes in determining the structure and function of proteins. Students build models of DNA and beta-globin protein as they study the structure; function and interrelatedness of nucleic acids and proteins. To study the impact of mutations they analyze karyotypes and explore the effects of single base pair mutations.
Labs within Unit four:
It is expected students will:
~ Use proper microscope techniques to examine and record their observations of
normal and sickle red blood cells in their journal.
~ Use appropriate Internet research techniques to obtain information on the
symptoms and complications of the sickle cell trait and anemia.
~ Use proper lab techniques to produce chromosome spreads of human HeLa
cells.
~ Use proper technique to examine; count and measure chromosomes from HeLa
cells and properly document data.
~ Draw and analyze pedigree charts to illustrate passage of a trait through at least
three generations.
~ Calculate the probability of offspring inheriting the trait and how they made
their calculation.
~ Build a model of the DNA molecule and be able to use appropriate vocabulary
to describe its structure.
~ Use appropriate laboratory methods to isolate DNA from plant and animal
cells.
~ Calculate the length of DNA in a cell and properly convert units of nanoscale
measurement.
~ Identify the exons and coding regions of a gene by comparing the DNA code to
amino acid sequence of the protein.
~ Build an accurate 3-dimensional model of the beta-globin protein.
~ Design a protein with a specific function by specifying the sequence of
nucleotides in the protein’s gene.
~ Complete and analyze karyotypes.
~ Interpret selected karyotypes to diagnose medical conditions.
~ Assemble models of specified amino acids.

Unit 5 – Hypercholesterolemia
In unit 5 students will examine the function of cholesterol in the body and its role in heart disease. DNA technologies including polymerase chain; restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and DNA electrophoresis are introduced as students complete activities dealing with the familial hypercholesterolemia gene.
Labs within unit five:
It is expected students will:
~ Interpret molecular structure diagrams and correctly construct three
dimensional models and correctly construct three dimensional models of stearic
acid; oleic acid; linoleic acid and cholesterol.
~ Identify a fatty acid as saturated or unsaturated by examining either the
structural diagram or a three dimensional model.
~ Apply their knowledge of cholesterol; lipid binding proteins and heart disease
to produce an informative brochure or poster.
~ Calculate the amplification of DNA during the polymerase chain reaction.
~ Use proper lab techniques to separate DNA fragments by gel electrophoresis.
~ Explain how polarity; voltage; time and agragose concentration affect the
results of gel electrophoresis.

Unit 6 – Infectious Diseases
Bacteria and viruses; the causative agents of infectious diseases; are the main focus of this unit. Structural differences between these organisms are examined as students Gram stain bacteria and produce models of virus particles. The differences in treatment protocols for bacterial and viral diseases are investigated. Students produce a public health campaign to educate peers about the dangers and the prevention of an infectious disease.
Labs in unit 6:
It is expected students will:
~ Use proper aseptic techniques to sample and transfer bacterial cells to
microscope slides.
~ Use proper Gram staining and microscope techniques to stain and observe
bacteria.
~ Perform and analyze a test of antibiotic efficiency using pour plates and
antibiotic disks.
~ Use proper research techniques to find information from a variety of sources
about the structure of viruses.
~ Build an accurate; labeled and scaled model of a virus particle.
~ Produce an accurate and informative presentation about the symptoms;
prevalence; prevention; treatment and the global economic and social impact
of an infectious disease caused by a virus.
~ Design and produce a Public Health Awareness Campaign to inform people
about the cause; symptoms and prevention of an infectious disease.

Unit 7 – Medical Interventions
Medical interventions past and present are explored in this unit including surgery; medication; technology; and life style choice. The focus of the work is how medical interventions have changed over time to prolong and improve the quality of life. Students explore how a new pharmaceutical treatment goes from initial discovery to market and research medical interventions currently available for infectious diseases.
Labs for unit 7:
It is expected students will:
~ Analyze the effect of replacing an enzyme on the ability of a living cell (yeast)
to complete a chemical reaction.
~ Design and produce a product that demonstrates the steps or stages in the
development; trial and approval of medical interventions.
~ Apply their knowledge of cell and body systems to be able to explain how
various medical interventions work and how they prevent or treat disease.

Unit 8 – Grant Proposal
Funding medical research through the grant writing process is the focus of the eighth and final unit. In teams; students prepare a written grant proposal and give an oral presentation supporting the proposal; based on a disease topic of their choice. The grant proposal is based on a National Institutes of Health grant structure. This is an in-depth research proposal completed over a lengthy period of time.
Labs within unit 8:
It is expected students will:
~ Prepare a detailed grant proposal for a research project that will impact a
specific aspect of a disease or medical condition.
~ Use consensus as a decision making strategy on the team.
~ Present the grant proposal in the form of an oral presentation.

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• LBIO
• Biology

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Online / Virtual