Have your high school students explore the Immune System through this interactive multimedia videoconference presentation!

Designed by Riddle Memorial Hospital's emergency room doctor Phillip Silverstein, the “Inner World Discovery” program is a multimedia journey through the human body. With Dr. Silverstein as their guide, students participating in this session will experience the wonder, intricacies and elegance of the human body’s immune system. This interactive videoconference presentation with Dr. Silverstein will make the complexities of understanding the immune system accessible to students, and will make real the devastating effects of HIV. The program, a curricular supplement, is scaled and adapted for each audience.

We encourage students to generate questions about the immune system, HIV and/or AIDS before participating in this videoconference.

Program Outline:

• Welcome and Site Introductions (10 Minutes)
  Each site will have 30 seconds to introduce their school. Introductions should include: the school’s name, where the school is located, class information and interesting fact about your school or community.

• Presentation by Dr. Phil Silverstien (45 Minutes)
  Dr. Silverstein will explore issues related to the Immune System and HIV/AIDS, as well as take students through a multimedia presentation.

• Question and Answer Session (15 Minutes)
  During this time, we will call on sites in alphabetical order to ask a question. Each site will have an opportunity to ask one question, and then we will move onto the next site. If time permits, we will repeat the cycle. Students should prepare questions ahead of time and should be at the microphone, ready to ask their question, prior to the moderator calling on your site.

• Closing Remarks (5 Minutes)

Pre-Videoconference Activities:

• Review the Glossary of Terms: Download and go over the glossary of terms and multimedia presentation characters [PDF] with students. Participating teachers should review this material with students ahead of time to help introduce the concept of the Immune System and/or HIV.

• Brainstorm Questions: Have students come up with questions for Dr. Silverstein about the Immune System, HIV and/or AIDS. (You may also want to pass out index cards for students to write questions down during the videoconference). As a class, choose the top 10 questions. Make sure students are prepared to ask these questions as part of the videoconference event. Each school will have a chance to ask at least 2 questions - - but by preparing 5, we can make sure that questions aren't repeated.

Post-Videoconference Activities:

• Reflect: Have students write a written reflection about the program or conduct a classroom dialogue with students. Some questions to consider: what did they like about the program? What new facts did they learn? What still confuses them? What would they like to know more about?

National Educational Standards:

Participation in this program satisfies the following national health education content standards, as outlined by the American Cancer Society:

• Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention.Participation in this program satisfies the following national science education content standards, as outlined by the National Academies of Science:
  • As a result of their activities in grades 9-12, all students should develop understanding of the cell.