The wars within
In this activity, students are introduced to the immune system.
Virus replication
Different viruses infect cells in different ways. In this animated video, a virus infects an animal cell through a process called endocytosis. Once in the cell, the virus can replicate itself tens of thousands of times within a few hours.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
explain in simple terms what the immune system is
list some of the names of the cells in the immune system
explain some of the functions of the immune cells.
Cells of the immune system – slideshow
This slideshow is designed to present the immune system to younger students in a simple way. It describes some of the cells and how they might function in response to harmful microorganisms entering the body. It is part of the The wars within activity.
Download the Word file (see below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do.
Related content
These articles help provide a basic knowledge and understanding of some ideas and concepts of our immune system:
Related activities
Additional activities to support learning about the immune sustem.
Check out the unit plans: Fighting infection – the immune system and Fighting infection – reducing infection.
Useful links
Watch this video of macrophage ‘eating’ particles.
YoutTube video of a human neutrophil on a blood film, crawling among red blood cells (spherical shape). The neutrophil is ‘chasing’ Staphylococcus aureus microorganisms, added to the film. This video is taken from a 16 mm movie made in the 1950s by the late David Rogers at Vanderbilt University.
