Around the classrooms

Year 9 Science - diseases

In year 9 science, we experimented and learnt about pathogens and how they spread and what we can do to help reduce them. We continued on the topic of endemics, epidemics and pandemics and their characteristics. We then moved on to the three lines of defence in our immune system, the physical, the chemical and the adaptive immunity. We learnt about the cells involved in the last line of defence and how our body defends us against intruders. We studied the functions of vacancies and antibiotics, how they are made and their effect on the virus or bacteria. And concerning the spread of Covid-19, we learnt about the two systems of immunity (passive and active) and herd immunity. 

We experimented on how hand-sanitising and hand-washing affect the growth pathogens on agar plates, and it was truly amusing to see the difference between before and after washing hands next to each other. The pathogens grown on the Petri dishes on the other hand were not as amusing to look at. 

Another experiment that we did was regarding herd immunity. Each person had a cup of water and a pipette used for sharing drops of water with people around them. A person chosen at random was to have droplets of acid in their cup and at the end, we got a (CPR test) and used an acid indicator to see how many people were infected. It was astonishing as the water changed colour when you had some acid transferred into your cup. 

Mahdis Soroush, 9B