coronavirus vaccine TN

Teacher Notes for “COVID-19 Vaccines – How do they work?”[footnoteRef:1] [1: By Dr. Ingrid Waldron, Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, 2021. These Teacher Notes and the related Student Handout are available at https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusvaccine. ]

Students begin by proposing a hypothesis to explain why most people who have had COVID-19 or have been vaccinated do not become sick if they are exposed to the coronavirus in the future. Students analyze how the adaptive immune system responds to a coronavirus infection and how this response differs after a first vs. second exposure to the coronavirus. Then, students analyze the biological effects of an RNA vaccine and revise their hypothesis about how a vaccine protects against illness. Finally, students use reliable sources to investigate their questions about COVID-19 vaccines.

Before beginning this activity, your students should complete either version of the Student Handout for the prerequisite activity, “Coronaviruses – What They Are and How They Can Make You Sick” (https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusintro).

NGSS Learning Goals

In accord with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)[footnoteRef:2]: [2: Quotations are from http://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/HS%20LS%20topics%20combined%206.13.13.pdf ]

· This activity helps students to understand the Disciplinary Core Idea LS1.A. “Systems of specialized cells within organisms help them perform the essential functions of life.”

· Students engage in two Scientific Practices:

· “Constructing Explanations. Apply scientific ideas, principles and/or evidence to provide an explanation of phenomena…”

· “Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information. Critically read scientific literature adapted for classroom use to determine the central ideas or conclusions and/or to obtain scientific and/or technical information… Communicate scientific and/or technical information or ideas…”

· This activity helps students to understand the Crosscutting Concept, “Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Prediction. Cause and effect relationships can be suggested and predicted for complex natural… systems by examining what is known about smaller scale mechanisms within the system.”

· This activity helps students to prepare for Performance Expectation HS-LS1-1. “Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life through systems of specialized cells.”

Instructional Suggestions and Biology Background

If your students are learning online, we recommend that they use the Google Doc version of the Student Handout, which is available at https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusvaccine. To answer questions 4, 10 and 12, students can either print the relevant pages, draw on those and send you pictures, or they will need to know how to modify a drawing online. They can double-click on the relevant drawing in the Google Doc, which will open a drawing window. Then, they can use the editing tools to add lines and other shapes.[footnoteRef:3] You may want to revise the GoogleDoc or Word document to prepare a version of the Student Handout that will be more suitable for your students; if you do this, please check the format by viewing the PDF. [3: To draw a shapeAt the top of the page, find and click Shape.Choose the shape you want to use.Click and drag on the canvas to draw your shape.When you are done, click Save and Close.]

A key is available upon request to Ingrid Waldron (iwaldron@upenn.edu). The following paragraphs provide additional instructional suggestions and background information – some for inclusion in your class discussions and some to provide you with relevant background that may be useful for your understanding and/or for responding to student questions.

To maximize student participation and learning, I suggest that you have your students work individually or in pairs to complete each group of related questions and then have a class discussion after each group of questions. In each discussion, you can probe student thinking and help them develop a sound understanding of the concepts and information covered before moving on to the next group of related questions.

The novel coronavirus that is causing the current global pandemic is called SARS-Cov-2 because of its similarity to SARS-Cov, a coronavirus that caused an epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2002-2004, mainly in Asia. This earlier coronavirus disease was COVID, which had different characteristics than COVID-19, the current pandemic disease.

Question 1 presents the anchoring phenomena in the bulleted sentences. The risk of infection with coronavirus is much reduced after an initial coronavirus infection, although this protection is weaker for the elderly (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00662-0/fulltext). The rate of reinfection appears to be higher if people are exposed to new variants of the coronavirus that are less susceptible to the antibodies and memory cells developed in response to the original infection (“Coronavirus Evolution and the COVID-19 Pandemic”, https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusOrigin).[footnoteRef:4] Similarly, the vaccines have been highly effective in preventing COVID-19, but the vaccines against the original strain of the new coronavirus have been less effective against the new variants.[footnoteRef:5] The driving questions for this activity are why most people who have had COVID-19 do not get it again and why most people who have received the COVID-19 vaccine don’t get COVID-19. [4: The available evidence indicates that immunity against COVID-19 lasts at least six months and probably more unless certain variants or strains of the coronavirus become common. This contrasts with the common cold, where reinfection is common, because the common cold is caused by many different viruses, and immunity against one does not result in immunity against the others. ] [5: See pages 7 and 9-11 will for additional information and references.]

Question 1 is intended to stimulate a class discussion. If your students answer that people who have had COVID-19 or been vaccinated have become “immune”, probe their understanding of what has changed in the body to make the person “immune”. You may want to display students’ questions about immune responses and a consensus hypothesis or several hypotheses to be evaluated as students learn more during this activity. Then, you can refer to the questions at appropriate times as you progress through the activity, and you and your students will revisit the hypotheses when you discuss questions 13 and 14. Your class discussion of question 1 should provide a transition to learning about immune defenses against coronavirus infection.

Immune Defenses against Coronavirus Infection

Students are expected to answer question 2 based on what they have learned in the prerequisite activity (https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusintro), which includes an introduction to parts of the innate immune system. The innate immune system responds to molecules that are widespread in viruses or bacteria; in contrast, the adaptive immune system response to molecules that are specific to one type of virus or bacteria. To learn more about the innate immune system, you can use the sources recommended on pages 5-6 of these Teacher Notes.

Students are expected to answer question 4c by pointing out that, if antibodies are bound to the spike proteins, then the spike proteins cannot bind to the receptor molecules on body cells, so the coronavirus can’t enter the cells to produce more coronaviruses. Additional effects of antibodies bound to antigens include increased phagocytosis of the antigen-containing virus. Also, antibodies bound to spike proteins on the surface of an infected cell attract natural killer cells that can kill the cell.

An antigen is a foreign protein, carbohydrate or glycoprotein that stimulates a response of the adaptive immune system.[footnoteRef:6] An antibody binds to a specific part of an antigen molecule, often called an epitope. An antigen-presenting cell presents fragments of the protein, carbohydrate or glycoprotein that contain the epitope. You may want to help your students understand and remember the term antigen by pointing out that an antigen generates an antibody response. [6: A crucial property of the immune system is that it responds to "foreign" antigens (e.g., molecules in invading viruses or bacteria). When it is functioning properly, the immune system does not respond to molecules that are part of the person's own body. ]

Page 2 of the Student Handout illustrates the NGSS Disciplinary Core Idea, “Systems of specialized cells within organisms help them perform the essential functions of life.” Although the top figure shows a single antigen-presenting cell, a single helper T cell, and a single initial B cell, you should be aware that there are multiple cells of each type. The same caution applies to the figure on page 3 of the Student Handout. To facilitate student comprehension, the figure on the top of page 2 of the Student Handout omits cytotoxic T cells, memory cytotoxic T cells, and memory helper T cells, which are discussed at the bottom of page 2 of the Student Handout. You may want to clarify that an immune response to an antigen activates only the T cells and B cells that respond specifically to that antigen (see figure below).

(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/49/9a/b7/499ab70626091c719ff261a9de3079eb.png)

The figure below shows how a cytotoxic T cell kills a virally infected cell. The death of infected cells prevents coronavirus replication and releases the coronavirus so it can be taken up and digested by phagocytic cells. You may want to explain to your students that “cyto-” stands for cell and ask them to explain why these T cells are called cytotoxic. T cells mature in the thymus.

cause apoptosis.

(https://thebiologyblogs.wordpress.com/2018/11/10/helper-t-cells-and-cytotoxic-t-cells/)

The second figure on page 2 of the Student Handout shows the general pattern of antibody responses after a first and second exposure to an antigen, not actual measurements of antibody concentration in the blood after first and second exposures to the coronavirus. (Exposure refers to an exposure in which enough coronaviruses enter the body so they could start an infection.) Antibody production is very low during the first week after the first exposure to a viral infection; during that time, antigen-presenting cells are presenting antigen to helper T cells that are stimulating B cells that multiply and mature into cells that produce antibodies that bind to the viral antigens. After a second exposure to the same virus, memory B cells result in a faster and stronger antibody response. The figure below shows that cytotoxic T cells also show a stronger response after a second exposure to the same virus.

(https://novel-coronavirus.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/cms/asset/182143ad-a94b-4315-acc1-2a352003c1e7/nfgz002.gif)

Many aspects of the complex and sophisticated immune system are omitted from the Student Handout and these Teacher Notes. If you want to learn more about immune responses, I recommend the following resources.

· Understanding the Immune System in One Video (15 minutes; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jBpv9fYSU4)

· Coronavirus: How It Infects Us and How We Might Stop It (minutes 26-52 of https://www.scientificamerican.com/video/coronavirus-how-it-infects-us-and-how-we-might-stop-it/).

· How the Body Reacts to Viruses (https://onlinelearning.hms.harvard.edu/hmx/immunity/)

· The Immune Havoc of COVID-19 (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-immune-havoc-of-covid-19/)

Understanding the immune system response to a coronavirus infection can help students to understand two of the tests for coronavirus infection. A sample of blood can be tested for antibodies against the novel coronavirus; if these antibodies are found, this indicates that the person has been infected with coronavirus. The rapid antigen test detects coronavirus proteins by looking for reactions with appropriate antibodies; this test is less accurate but a faster way to test for current infection than the PCR test which tests for coronavirus RNA. A good explanation of all three tests is available at https://www.fredhutch.org/en/research/diseases/coronavirus/serology-testing.html.

How the COVID-19 Vaccines Work

Pages 3-4 of the Student Handout present an overview of how the RNA vaccines prevent COVID-19. After a COVID-19 vaccine is injected, the RNA is taken up by muscle cells and/or white blood cells, represented by the large cell near the top of the figure on page 3 of the Student Handout. To help your students understand this figure, you may want to ask them this question.

All the cells in this figure are drawn much bigger than actual cells, but one of the cells is shown much too big relative to the other cells. Mark this cell “too big”.

Page 4 of the Student Handout introduces students to the distinction between becoming sick with a symptomatic infection and an asymptomatic infection that occurs when memory cells quickly produce an immune response that prevents the coronaviruses from replicating.[footnoteRef:7] After vaccination, the fast, strong immune response results in relatively few coronaviruses which can be quickly eliminated by phagocytes before symptoms begin. The low viral load in the few people who become infected with coronavirus after being vaccinated indicates that vaccination reduces not only the risk of COVID-19, but also the rate of transmission of coronavirus infections (https://www.advisory.com/en/daily-briefing/2021/03/04/vaccine-transmission). [7: The Student Handout does not mention that many initial coronavirus infections are asymptomatic, especially in children. Available evidence suggests that these asymptomatic infections result in effective immunity against repeat infections. These asymptomatic infections also play a major role in spreading coronavirus infections; see “Changing Recommendations about How to Reduce Your Risk of Coronavirus Infection – What is the evidence? (https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusprev).]

Question 13 returns to the driving question introduced in question 1. During your class discussion of student answers to this question, you may want to refer back to the hypotheses from your discussion of question 1. In addition, I recommend that you expand the discussion to include the reasons why most people who have had COVID-19 do not get it again.

Question 14 explores the important point that immunity is variable, not absolute. The data provided in the table immediately preceding question 14 indicate very good protection against mild or moderate COVID-19 and even stronger protection against the risk of severe COVID-19 which can require hospitalization or result in death. The data shown are for the vaccine made by Moderna (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2035389). The results for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are similar. I recommend that you emphasize the excellent protection against severe COVID-19, which can result in hospitalization or death. It would be helpful to know more about how well the vaccine protects against the long-term symptoms sometimes triggered by even mild or moderate COVID-19 infections, but this will take more time. To help your students meet the challenge of answering question 14, you may want to mention that the number and effectiveness of memory cells formed after vaccination varies between individuals; therefore, in some cases, the memory cells produce an immune response that is just fast and strong enough to limit the coronavirus infection to a mild or moderate case of COVID-19.

The two RNA vaccines approved for use in the US at the beginning of 2021 were developed by Moderna and by Pfizer and BioNTech. Both vaccines are reported to have ~95% efficacy. This means that the rate of COVID-19 was ~95% lower among the vaccinated group than among the placebo group in their phase 3 clinical trials.[footnoteRef:8] For example, in the clinical trial of the Pfizer/ BioNTech vaccine, ~0.75% of people in the placebo group developed COVID-19 vs. only ~0.04% of people in the vaccine group. (Reported efficacy for vaccines against other types of respiratory illness such as the flu is only about 60-80%.) [8: For an explanation of the clinical trials used to test the safety and efficacy of vaccines, see https://www.fda.gov/files/vaccines,%20blood%20&%20biologics/published/Ensuring-the-Safety-of-Vaccines-in-the-United-States.pdf. For evidence concerning the efficacy and safety of these RNA vaccines, see the references in the "More Information about the RNA COVID-19 Vaccines" section on page 5 of the Student Handout.]

Current evidence suggests that the Moderna vaccine has about the same effectiveness against the new, more contagious variant first identified in the UK, but it will probably have significantly reduced effectiveness against the new, more contagious variant first identified in South Africa (https://www.statnews.com/2021/01/25/moderna-vaccine-less-effective-variant/). Moderna and other vaccine makers are already developing and testing vaccines with increased effectiveness against the variants first detected in South Africa and Brazil. (For more information about these variants, see “Coronavirus Evolution and the COVID-19 Pandemic”, https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusOrigin.)

Both the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines require two injections, separated by three or four weeks. Immunity develops gradually during the weeks after the first and second doses, as shown in the graphic below for the Pfizer vaccine. Notice that the development of immunity after the first vaccine dose follows a time course that is similar to the time course for the development of immunity after an infection. Recent data indicate that a single dose of these vaccines reduces the risk of COVID-19 by more than 90%, at least in the short term (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/946102). This result has led some public health experts to advocate vaccinating more people with a first dose and postpone the second dose until more vaccine doses are available. The benefit has been a larger number of people with substantial protection, but a risk could be that the coronavirus might mutate to escape control by the vaccine (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/briefing/atlanta-shootings-ncaa-mens-division-teen-vogue.html; https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/could-too-much-time-between-doses-drive-coronavirus-outwit-vaccines).

(https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55244122)

There are several reasons why the development, testing and initial production were much faster for these RNA vaccines than for previous vaccines (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12/06/covid-vaccine-messenger-rna/).

· RNA vaccines are much easier and faster to produce than conventional vaccines, which require cell cultures to produce proteins or inactivated or weakened virus.

· Researchers had been working for decades to develop the technology needed to produce RNA vaccines.

· In response to the pandemic, governments and businesses invested a great deal of money to develop and test vaccines quickly and simultaneously ramp up production of these vaccines.

The ability to rapidly develop and produce new RNA vaccines will be very useful as vaccines need to be modified to increase their effectiveness against new variants or strains of the coronavirus that result from mutations and natural selection.

Some people worry that the rapid development of the vaccines means that they may not be safe. However, the clinical trials have confirmed the safety of these RNA vaccines during the time period when most vaccine side effects usually occur. Because of the rapid development, testing and production of these vaccines, we do not yet have data concerning the long-term effects of these vaccines. Follow-up of the clinical trials that established the effectiveness and safety of these vaccines will provide more long-term data. RNA vaccines are expected to be particularly safe because:

· RNA is rapidly broken down. (The fragility of RNA molecules is the reason why the vaccines must be stored at very cold temperatures.)

· RNA does not reach the nucleus and does not affect the DNA.

· The RNA provides the instructions to make only one of the proteins needed for the coronavirus, so there is no risk of producing a coronavirus that could cause an infection.

Systematic follow-up of vaccination campaigns has begun to identify very rare side effects that did not show up in the clinical trials. For example, during the early public use of these vaccines, a few people developed anaphylaxis (estimated frequency roughly one case of anaphylaxis per 100,000 people vaccinated or less). Anaphylaxis is usually effectively treated with prompt injection of epinephrine; this is why vaccinated people should wait at the vaccination location for up to half an hour after being vaccinated (https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/covid-vaccine-allergic-reactions-study/2020/12/21/e01001d2-431a-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html; https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/945313).

Chemical signals from the adaptive immune system activate the innate immune system and can stimulate fever and fatigue, which some people experience as side effects for a day or two, especially after the second dose of vaccine. Because large numbers of people have been and will be vaccinated, there are bound to be unrelated health problems that emerge after vaccination just due to coincidence, similar to the health problems that emerged after injection of the placebo in the clinical trials. This is the reason why scientists distinguish between adverse events, which are any health problems that happen after vaccination, and side effects, which are adverse events that are caused by the vaccination. For students who are concerned about the safety of these vaccines, you may want to suggest the following resources.

· Five things you need to know about mRNA vaccine safety (https://horizon-magazine.eu/article/five-things-you-need-know-about-mrna-vaccine-safety.html)

· What are the ingredients of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine? (https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/12/09/1013538/what-are-the-ingredients-of-pfizers-covid-19-vaccine/)

· Fact check: RFID microchips will not be injected with the COVID-19 vaccine, altered video features Bill and Melinda Gates and Jack Ma (https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-vaccine-microchip-gates-ma/fact-check-rfid-microchips-will-not-be-injected-with-the-covid-19-vaccine-altered-video-features-bill-and-melinda-gates-and-jack-ma-idUSKBN28E286)

For a supplementary illustrated guide to how RNA vaccines work, see https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/a/covid-19-coronavirus-vaccine-rna-science-20210122.html. For a more detailed explanation of how RNA vaccines work, you may want to view:

· the ~3-minute video available at https://www.cas.org/blog/covid-mrna-vaccine#:~:text=mRNA%20vaccines%20trigger%20the%20body's,antibody-mediated%20immunity%2C%20respectively

· the 16-minute video, “How does an mRNA vaccine work?”, available at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elz2-vwBhlY&fbclid=IwAR0e65NplkyXt1oe-wBYeI1T72zGQx92b5oGz_K2-8ioDHOWe2jiZZ8selected and zS68; one error in this informative video is the speaker’s failure to recognize that the vaccine is thawed before it is injected)

An informative (although somewhat quirky) explanation of the molecular biology of the RNA in the Pfizer vaccine is available at https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/reverse-engineering-source-code-of-the-biontech-pfizer-vaccine/.

Question 12 refers to another type of vaccine that contains the coronavirus spike protein. An example is the Novavax vaccine; early results indicate an efficacy of nearly 90% in Britain, but just under 50% in South Africa where a new variant of the coronavirus is common. The figure below shows the mechanism of action for vaccines that contain protein antigens (including additional information that is also relevant for understanding how RNA vaccines work).

The immune response following immunization with a conventional protein antigen. The vaccine is injected into muscle and the protein antigen is taken up by dendritic cells, which are activated through pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) by danger signals in the adjuvant, and then trafficked to the draining lymph node. Here, the presentation of peptides of the vaccine protein antigen by MHC molecules on the dendritic cell activates T cells through their T cell receptor (TCR). In combination with signalling (by soluble antigen) through the B cell receptor (BCR), the T cells drive B cell development in the lymph node. Here, the T cell-dependent B cell development results in maturation of the antibody response to increase antibody affinity and induce different antibody isotypes. The production of short-lived plasma cells, which actively secrete antibodies specific for the vaccine protein, produces a rapid rise in serum antibody levels over the next 2 weeks. Memory B cells are also produced, which mediate immune memory. Long-lived plasma cells that can continue to produce antibodies for decades travel to reside in bone marrow niches. CD8+ memory T cells can proliferate rapidly when they encounter a pathogen, and CD8+ effector T cells are important for the elimination of infected cells.

(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-020-00479-7)

As of March 24, 2021, the other vaccine that has been approved for use in the US is made by Johnson & Johnson. This vaccine uses an inactivated adenovirus to carry DNA with the gene for the spike protein into the nucleus of cells, where mRNA for the spike protein is produced. [footnoteRef:9] Advantages of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are that only a single dose is needed and freezer storage is not needed. Although the efficacy of this single-dose vaccine may be lower than the RNA vaccines for preventing mild and moderate COVID-19, this vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe disease, both in the US and in South Africa where a variant that can evade immune defenses against the original strain of the coronavirus has been spreading (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/24/health/covid-vaccine-johnson-and-johnson.html, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/24/johnson-and-johnson-vaccine/).[footnoteRef:10] [9: Two similar vaccines that have provided reasonably complete results from phase 3 clinical trials are produced by AstraZeneca and Gamaleya (in Russia). (For more information on the AstraZeneca vaccine, see https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/22/world/covid-astrazeneca-vaccine.html and https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/astrazeneca-oxford-vaccine-concerns/2021/03/23/2f931d34-8bc3-11eb-a33e-da28941cb9ac_story.html; for information on the Russian vaccine, see https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/gamaleya-covid-19-vaccine.html and https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55900622.)] [10: Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech, and Novavax have each begun work on vaccines that will be more effective against the variants first identified in South Africa and in Brazil, in case they are needed (https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/947626?src=mkm_covid_update_210318_MSCPEDIT&uac=49468FT&impID=3257587&faf=1).]

If you would like to learn more about how vaccines work, how they are developed, and related issues, I recommend:

· the sources listed on page 5 of the Student Handout

· “How nine Covid-19 vaccines work” (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/health/how-covid-19-vaccines-work.html)

· “A guide to vaccinology: from basic principles to new developments” (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41577-020-00479-7)

· Innovators target vaccines for variants and shortages in global South (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41587-021-00001-x)

Question 15 will draw students’ attention to the reasons why mask wearing, distancing and other prevention measures will continue to be needed, at least during the first half of 2021 and probably longer. You can also show your students the figure below, which conveys the basic point that no single type of prevention is foolproof, so multiple preventive actions have the best chance to stop the COVID-19 pandemic. At this point, we need a combination of vaccination, public health measures, and individual responsibility to effectively slow the spread of the coronavirus. However, the CDC has said that people who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can safely gather unmasked and inside with other fully vaccinated people or with unvaccinated people from a single household who are at low risk for severe COVID-19 (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html).

(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/05/health/coronavirus-swiss-cheese-infection-mackay.html)

There are several ways you could pursue any unanswered questions from your class discussions and the questions that students write in response to question 16.

· You could have the students research their questions informally, and you could also provide information from these Teacher Notes and/or other sources.

· You could have students work in pairs or small groups to prepare a report (including a poster) and then present their results to their classmates, who will be encouraged to ask thoughtful questions. Class reports with discussion are useful for (1) sharing information, reinforcing learning, and clarifying important points, and (2) motivating students to develop a good understanding of the topic they are researching since they will need to be prepared to answer questions from their classmates and teacher.

· You could use the following steps to carry out a jigsaw activity using several related articles.[footnoteRef:11] [11: These instructions are adapted from https://www.nsta.org/science-teacher/science-teacher-march-2020/novel-coronavirus.]

1. Tell your class that they will read one article in their small group, summarize the main conclusions and evidence, and then share this information with a group of students who have read other articles.

2. As students complete the reading individually, each of them should prepare a summary and possibly annotate the article.

3. Have students who read the same article briefly share their findings with one another and discuss the article. This will help students prepare to briefly summarize their article in the mixed group.

4. Regroup students so that one representative from each source is in each group. Ask students to briefly summarize their articles in their new groups. When sharing the summaries, students should make connections to what they have heard in the other students’ summaries. They should talk through anything that is unclear or seems inconsistent from one source to the next. Students should take notes during this sharing, listening, and discussion process.

5. Have a whole class discussion of the main takeaways from the jigsaw readings. Ask students what questions they are still wondering about and try to follow up.

· You could have students work individually or in pairs to prepare a brief written report. One problem we have encountered is that students often copy information from their sources without understanding the material and putting it in their own words. Helpful guidance on this issue and the appropriate use of quotations is available at https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/index.html. For example, an earlier version of this source recommended these steps to help students put information in their own words:

1. Reread the original source until you understand its full meaning.

2. Set the original aside and write down the main points you want to include from this source.

3. Check your version with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses the essential information in a new form. Use quotation marks to identify any unique phrases you have borrowed exactly from the source.

4. Record the source (including the page) so you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.

The recommended reliable sources listed on page 5 of the Student Handout provide information about how vaccines are developed and tested, additional information about the RNA vaccines, and information about other types of vaccines that are being developed. The development and testing of COVID-19 vaccines is producing new results every week. As of the beginning of 2021, other types of vaccines have been approved for use in other countries. All of these vaccines work by stimulating the production of memory cells, and many use the coronavirus spike protein as the vaccine’s antigen. For regularly updated information, you and your students can use the Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html (the last recommended source in the Student Handout), plus the following sources of reliable information.

· Coronavirus (COVID-19) (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html)

· Science (https://www.sciencenews.org/editors-picks/2019-novel-coronavirus-outbreak)

· New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/news-event/coronavirus)

· FAS COVID-19 – Ask a Scientist (https://covid19.fas.org/)

If your students use other sources, you may want to have them first read “Evaluating Internet Research Sources” (http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm) and “Evaluating Internet Resources” (http://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/evaluating-internet-content). Also, you may want to encourage your students to use online dictionaries or searches to find the meaning of any unfamiliar technical terms.

Sources for Student Handout Figures

· Figure of coronavirus with antibodies, adapted from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01816-5

· Figure of immune response to coronavirus infection, adapted from https://www.thevaccinemom.com/2019/10/the-immune-system-in-a-nutshell/

· Figure with antibody graphs, adapted from http://www.as.wvu.edu/~rbrundage/chapter12b/sld016.htm

· Figure of cytotoxic T cell, adapted from https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d8/33/a1/d833a1b64f4500860fc804d8ea153b0b.jpg

· Figure of RNA vaccine effects, adapted from https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/11/17/covid-vaccines-what-you-need-to-know/?arc404=true

· Figure of exponential growth of coronavirus population, adapted from https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/B3-GL119_CHENG0_D_20200402114558.jpg

Related Activities

Coronavirus Evolution and the COVID-19 Pandemic 

https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusOrigin

To begin this analysis and discussion activity, students explore two hypotheses about the origins of the new coronavirus that is causing the COVID-19 pandemic. First, students learn how mutations and natural selection can produce a spillover infection. Then, students use molecular evidence to evaluate the hypothesis that scientists used genetic engineering to produce the new coronavirus. Next, students analyze the contributions of mutation and natural selection to the development of the new coronavirus variants that are more contagious and/or can evade immune defenses. Finally, students propose policies to reduce the risk that even more dangerous variants could develop in the future.

Changing Recommendations about How to Reduce Your Risk of Coronavirus Infection – What is the evidence?

https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirusprev

In this analysis and discussion activity, students learn about the scientific basis of recommendations to reduce the spread of coronavirus infections. They analyze how changes in the recommendations resulted from new research findings about the behaviors and situations that increase or decrease the risk of coronavirus infection.

Resources for Teaching about Coronavirus

https://serendipstudio.org/exchange/bioactivities/coronavirus

This webpage has compiled information about learning activities and other resources for teaching high school biology students about the coronavirus and COVID-19.

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