Students in Mr. Seemy’s class were reading about the human excretory system. They learned that kidneys filter waste products out of the blood. People whose kidneys fail must either have trained medical practitioners filter their blood with expensive “dialysis machines” or else get a kidney transplanted from someone else. “My uncle has diabetes, and his kidneys are failing,” said Manvi. “Everyone in my mother’s family is evaluating whether they can donate a kidney. His daughter, my cousin Pritti, may donate a kidney for the transplant—I think her kidney will be a good match because they’re so closely related.”

Mr. Seemy said, “That’s a good thought, Manvi. Kidneys aren’t simple commodities that can be given away to anyone. They’re not all alike. The donor and recipient must have the same blood type and similar kidney tissue. You’re right to infer that daughters and fathers, like your cousin and uncle, are more likely to have a matching blood type and similar tissues.”

“Pritti has thought seriously about the decision and created a chart of all the pros and cons,” said Manvi. “I’ll check with Pritti to see if she’d be okay with me showing it to the class.”

Later, Manvi presented the chart that Pritti created to help her decide about donating her kidney to her father.

Do you think creating a list of “pros and cons” is a helpful way to evaluate the factors of an important decision like donating a kidney? Explain.

What other items would you add to the “benefits” column? What would you add to the “costs” column?

Discussion Question:

What items in Pritti’s lists would you value most? For example, you might emphasize not being able to play a contact sport if you enjoyed playing football.