Name:________________________        Date:______        Hr:_______

How has your body protected you?

Purpose:

Your body’s first line of defense includes the skin and other barriers that keep pathogens out of your body. If pathogens enter your body, inflammation occurs, and phagocytes come to the body’s defense. Your body is constantly being bombarded with different pathogens trying to enter your body. Often times, your body’s first line of defense is successful and you never even know that a pathogen was trying to invade your body. However, sometimes our first line of defense fails and we become ill. You will explain a recent time when you were sick and how your body reacted.

Procedure:

Write a brief essay explaining a recent time when you were sick and how your body reacted. Be sure to include the following information in your essay/story.

1. When were you sick?
2. What kind of pathogen infected you?
3. What is the body’s 1st line of defense against pathogens? What are the barriers your body has against pathogens?
4. How did the pathogen most likely sneak past your body’s first line of defense?
5. How did the pathogen make you ill? What were your symptoms?
6. What was your body’s response to the pathogen?
7. How long did it take you to get better?
8. Why is our first line of immune defense so important?

Make sure to write in complete sentences, and use correct grammar and punctuation. If you look up information to use in your essay, make sure you use correct citation.