Year 11 students, check the dates!
Pathogens are microorganisms such as viruses and bacteria that cause infectious diseases in animals and plants. They depend on their host to provide the conditions and nutrients that they need to grow and reproduce. They frequently produce toxins that damage tissues and make us feel ill. This section will explore how we can avoid diseases by reducing contact with them, as well as how the body uses barriers against pathogens. Once inside the body our immune system is triggered which is usually strong enough to destroy the pathogen and prevent disease. When at risk from unusual or dangerous diseases our body’s natural system can be enhanced by the use of vaccination. Since the 1940s a range of antibiotics have been developed which have proved successful against a number of lethal diseases caused by bacteria. Unfortunately many groups of bacteria have now become resistant to these antibiotics. The race is now on to develop a new set of antibiotics.
Objectives - After this topic you should know:
What health is
The different causes of ill health
How different types of disease interact
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
What pathogens are
How pathogens cause disease
How pathogens are spread
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
That bacterial multiply by simple cell division
How go grow an uncontaminated culture of bacteria in the lab
How uncontaminated cultures are used
Why bacteria are cultured at lower temperatures in school than in industry
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
That bacteria can divide by binary fission every 20 minutes if they have the right conditions
How to calculate the number of bacteria in a population
The effect of disinfectants and antibiotics on bacterial growth.
Required practical activity 2
Investigating the effect of antiseptics or antibiotics on bacterial growth - use agar plates and measures zones of inhibition produced around colonies.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
How the spread of disease can be reduced or prevented.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
Some examples of plant and animal diseases caused by viruses including measles, HIV/AIDS and tobacco mosaic virus.
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Learning Objectives - After this topic you should know:
Some examples of plant and animal diseases caused by bacteria, including Salmonella food poisoning and gonorrhoea.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
Some examples of plant diseases caused by fungi, including rose black spot
Some examples of animal diseases caused by protists, including malaria
How the spread of diseases can be reduced or prevented.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
How your body stops pathogens getting in
How your white blood cells protect you from disease.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
Name some causes of communicable and non-communicable disease in plants
Describe how a plant disease is detected and the methods used to identify the cause.
Explain how disease damages a plant.
Give some examples of plant defences and classify them as physical, chemical or mechanical.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
How your immune system works.
How vaccination protects you against disease.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
What medicines are and how some of them work.
Why painkillers and other medicines treat disease symptoms but do not kill pathogens.
The ways in which antibiotics can and cannot be used.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
What medicines are and how some of them work.
Why painkillers and other medicines treat disease symptoms but do not kill pathogens.
The ways in which antibiotics can and cannot be used.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
Describe the stages involved in testing and trialling new drugs.
Explain why testing new drugs is so important.
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Objectives - After this topic you should know:
Describe how monoclonal antibodies are produced.
Describe how monoclonal antibodies are used.
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Objectives- After this topic you should know:
Describe some uses of monoclonal antibodies.
Give advantages and disadvantages of using monoclonal antibodies.
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Learning Objectives - After this topic you should know:
What is meant by non-communicable disease.
What a lifestyle factor is.
How scientists consider riskk.
The human financial costs involved.
What a causal mechanism is.
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Learning Objectives - After this topic you should know:
What a tumour is.
The difference between benign and malignant tumours.
How cancer spreads.
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Learning Objectives - After this topic you should know:
How smoking affects the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
How smoking affects the risk of developing lung disease and lung cancer.
The effect of smoking on unborn babies.
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Learning Objectives - After this topic you should know:
The effect of diet and exercise on the development of obesity.
How diet and exercise affect the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
That obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
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Learning Objectives - After this topic you should know:
That alcohol affects liver and brain function.
That alcohol can affect unborn babies.
That alcohol is a carcinogen.
That many other agents act as carcinogens
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Study resources - communicable disease
Study resources - preventing & treating disease
Study resources - non-communicable disease
Assessments - communicable disease
Assessments - preventing & treating disease
Assessments - non-communicable disease
Other Resources