Why does evolution matter now pbs

In this lesson, you will learn about how evolution affects your health, the food you eat, and your environment. Activity 1: Evolution and Antibiotic Resistance Learn how evolution is at the heart of a world health threat.

Investigate the growing problem of antibiotic resistance and what this means in the realm of diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza. Activity 2: Evolution in Your World Learn how evolution affects your world and how understanding evolution can help solve problems in medicine, agriculture, and the environment. Additional Activities Find out why many people can't digest milk.

Teacher Notes. Web Activities. About the Project. Procedure Part A: Misuse of Antibiotics. Why Does Evolution Matter Now? View in: QuickTime RealPlayer. When students finish answering the questions embedded in Activity 1 , lead them in a discussion of their answers.

As a follow-up to this discussion, you may want to have students view the "Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance" animation to help them understand how antibiotic resistance can evolve.

Finally, if you have time, direct your students to the interview with Dr. Ewald about evolution and antibiotic resistance. Distribute, or ask students to print, the Evolution and Antibiotic Resistance: Survey form pdf. Help students think of people they can survey. Encourage them to find people of different ages.

Allow students two or three days to complete their surveys, and then lead a discussion of their results in class. Discuss why it is important to finish taking the full course of antibiotics prescribed by your doctor. Also talk about why doctors might prescribe antibiotics when they aren't necessary. Some consumers may not understand that antibiotics can't cure everything, and demand treatment.

Some physicians may be tempted to prescribe antibiotics even if they are ineffective for a particular condition, because their patients will leave feeling satisfied that they have some medicine to take. Part C: Spread the Word Students research the problems associated with the overuse of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance and develop an educational tool to inform the public about this problem.

Divide your class into small groups three to four students. Each team will represent a group of health professionals who have been hired to develop a public relations campaign about antibiotic misuse and resistance.

Provide hints about how to develop an educational tool for their health campaign.