Body Systems: Surviving Extremes: Teacher’s Guide
Grade Level: 9-12
Curriculum Focus: Health
Lesson Duration: One to two class periods
Program Description
Humans continue to push the limits of experience and exploration: Divers descend, mountaineers
ascend, and astronauts soar. Learn the physical toll these conditions—high altitude, zero gravity,
and water pressure—take on body systems. See how doctors struggle to find new ways to treat
them.
Onscreen Questions
Part I—Before watching the video
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How do changes in air pressure affect our bodies underwater and at high altitudes? As you
watch the program, note the potential risks facing deep-sea divers and high-altitude mountain
climbers.
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What precautionary measures do professionals take to prepare their bodies for these extremes?
Part I—After watching the video
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Although the human body cannot adapt to extreme pressure, we can take measures to prevent
sickness. How can we avoid the bends or high-altitude pulmonary edema?
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Compare and contrast the measures deep-sea divers and mountain climbers take to avoid these
life-threatening conditions.
Part II—Before watching the video
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Gravity is a force that our bodies have adapted to on Earth. What happens when that force is
eliminated?
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Consider the challenges astronauts face by spending time in zero gravity.
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As you watch the program, pay attention to the long-term physical and social effects.
Part II—After watching the video
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Surviving in outer space for long periods of time is difficult on the body and mind. Describe the
physical and mental challenges of living in space.
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What type of person do you think is best suited to living in outer space?
Body Systems: Surviving Extremes: Teacher’s Guide
2
Lesson Plan
Student Objectives
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Examine the potential health dangers of mountain climbing in high altitudes and deep-sea
diving.
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Write a health and safety column for a fictional magazine about extreme outdoor sports that
explains the risks involved in these activities.
Materials
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Body Systems: Surviving Extremes video and VCR
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Paper
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Pens, pencils
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Computer with Internet access
Procedures
1. Begin the lesson by talking about some of the activities featured in the video, such as highaltitude climbing and deep-sea diving. What are some of the dangers of these activities? You
may want to review specific risks, such as nitrogen narcosis, decompression sickness, and highaltitude pulmonary edema, or HAPE. Discuss with students the reasons they believe people
participate in these activities, despite the dangers.
2. Next, tell students to imagine they write a “health and safety” column for a magazine about
extreme outdoor sports. (Your class may want to name this fictional magazine.) Students can
choose to focus on deep-sea diving or high-altitude climbing. Encourage them to think about
their role as a health and safety writer for the magazine. They do not want to discourage readers
from taking part in extreme adventures, but they have a responsibility to explain the risks
involved.
3. Tell students that a teenage reader has written to the magazine, very excited about participating
in an extreme adventure, but concerned about the physical risks. Each student should write a
column in response to the reader’s letter, focusing on either deep-sea diving or high-altitude
climbing. The column should include the following information:
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Reasons this would be an exciting adventure
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Environmental conditions that may pose health risks
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Potential health risks with a brief description of causes and physical symptoms for each
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Suggestions for handling any of these symptoms
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Suggestions for preventing injury-before, during, or after the adventure
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Warnings about people who should NOT take part in this adventure
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Body Systems: Surviving Extremes: Teacher’s Guide
3
4. Encourage students to use the Web sites below in their research.
Deep-Sea Diving
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Scuba Diving: Training & Safety
http://www.scubadiving.com/training/instruction/
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Discovery Health: Decompression Sickness
http://health.discovery.com/diseasesandcond/encyclopedia/3220.html
•
Diving to Great Depths
http://www.oar.noaa.gov/spotlite/archive/spot_diving.html
High-Altitude Climbing
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The Physiology of High-Altitude Climbing
http://classic.mountainzone.com/everest/2000/altitude.html
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Outdoor Action Guide to High Altitude: Acclimatization and Illnesses
http://www.princeton.edu/~oa/altitude.html
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Mountaineering Training
http://www.bodyresults.com/S2mount.asp
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Going to Extremes: High Anxiety
http://www.pbs.org/safarchive/4_class/45_pguides/pguide_704/4574_hianx.html
5. Have students who wrote about high-altitude climbing share their columns with students who
wrote about deep-sea diving. Then hold a class discussion comparing risks and safety
suggestions for the two activities. What are the similarities among the activities? What lessons
did the students learn about the human body?
Assessment
Use the following three-point rubric to evaluate students’ work during this lesson.
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3 points: Students were highly engaged in class discussions; they wrote persuasive columns,
using many facts from the video and their research.
•
2 points: Students participated in class discussions; they wrote somewhat persuasive
columns with some facts from the video and their research.
•
1 point: Students participated minimally in class discussions; they wrote simplistic columns
with few or no facts from the video and their research.
Vocabulary
decompression sickness
Definition: A condition that occurs when sudden pressure changes in the environment cause
gases dissolved in the blood and tissues to form bubbles that block the flow of blood and
produce pain and other symptoms; also called the “bends.”
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Body Systems: Surviving Extremes: Teacher’s Guide
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Context: Scuba divers may suffer from decompression sickness if they rise to the surface too
quickly after diving in deep water.
high-altitude climbing
Definition: Scaling heights of 8,000 feet or higher
Context: In high-altitude climbing, some people are highly susceptible to altitude sickness.
High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE)
Definition: A severe form of altitude sickness resulting from fluid buildup in the lungs, which
prevents effective oxygen exchange; can lead to impaired cerebral function and death
Context: HAPE usually occurs when people go too high too quickly, or when people stay at high
altitudes for extended periods of time.
nitrogen narcosis
Definition: A dangerous condition of deep-sea diving in which a diver breathes nitrogen under
pressure; symptoms usually occur at depths greater than a hundred feet
Context: Symptoms of nitrogen narcosis may include feeling light-headed, difficulty
concentrating, poor judgment, decreased coordination, hallucinations, and coma.
Academic Standards
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences provides guidelines for teaching science in grades K–12 to
promote scientific literacy. To view the standards, visit this Web site:
http://books.nap.edu/html/nses/html/overview.html#content.
This lesson plan addresses the following science standards:
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Life Science: Structure and function in living systems
Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL)
McREL's Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education
addresses 14 content areas. To view the standards and benchmarks, visit link:
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/browse.asp
This lesson plan addresses the following national standards:
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Science—Life Sciences: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms,
Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment
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Language Arts—Viewing: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret
visual media; Writing: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process, Gathers
and uses information for research purposes
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.
Body Systems: Surviving Extremes: Teacher’s Guide
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Support Materials
Develop custom worksheets, educational puzzles, online quizzes, and more with the free teaching tools
offered on the Discoveryschool.com Web site. Create and print support materials, or save them to a
Custom Classroom account for future use. To learn more, visit
•
http://school.discovery.com/teachingtools/teachingtools.html
Published by Discovery Education. © 2005. All rights reserved.