To help students obtain a visual awareness of what happens when plaque builds up on the walls of arteries due to increase of cholesterol within the blood.
The students should view the web pages on the cardiovascular system and be aware of the circulatory functions. This lesson will help the student to understand what happens when cholesterol builds up within the blood and causes plaque to form on the walls of arteries.
The students should take a 4" X 5 1/2" piece of poster board and roll it into a cylinder approximately 1 1/2" in diameter. Tape both the inside and outside of cylinder to help to maintain shape. With the use of craft stick, students place the clay on the inside of the cylinder a little at a time. Have the students observe how the opening begins to narrow. Have the students answer the following questions in complete sentences after working on cholesterol project.
- What would be happening to the amount of blood passing through a narrow artery?
- What would happen to your heart because of the narrowing?
- Will this have any effect on blood pressure?
After completion of the project, have the students write a one or two paragraph summary explaining what they learned about cholesterol and what it can do to your body. Emphasize that the all work should be written in proper standard English. After the summary is turned in have the students discuss what they learned .
The following rubric can be used to assess the work done by the students in this project.
5. Student's model work and written work is considered to be excellent.
4. Student's model work and written work was good but some elements within the project were lacking.
3. Student's model work was good but had difficulty with the questions and with summarizing the project.
2. Student's completed model work, but didn't answer questions or attempt to summarize the project.
1. Student did not complete any part of the project.
