Course Highlights: Solving Medical Mysteries

Oh, no! There’s a new illness spreading among the residents of Montgomery Hills, and no one has any idea where it came from! Was it food at the hotel, or maybe the ballpark?

In Launch’s new middle school Project Lead the Way class, students play the role of a real-life medical detective as they gather data to analyze and diagnose diseases, like the one that happened in the Montgomery Hills community. But the fun doesn’t stop here—the class is chock-full of hands-on learning and problem-solving assignments!

Vital Information
Since vital signs provide the first clues when investigating any medical mystery, students learn how to measure each of the body’s core vital signs at the start of the course. Next they practice measuring vital signs, and they even go on to view experiments that explore the impact their actions have on their heart and respiratory rates.

Oh, the Nerve!
In Unit 2, students investigate the body’s nervous system and learn how it reacts to certain illnesses. This unit also teaches students about the brain’s structure and function and uses hands-on virtual simulations to help students learn and label various body parts.

Lights, Camera, Action!
Unit 3 gives students a chance to put their new-found knowledge to use—they’re told about a community illness outbreak, and they’re invited to solve the mystery of where it originated. But that’s not it! Students are given a little airtime by creating a newscast about the outbreak—they’ll work with a partner to write a script and even record themselves “on air!”

Course Overview:

• Unit 1: Disease Detectives
• Unit 2: Mysteries of the Human Body
• Unit 3: Outbreak!