If you suffer from allergies, you may be familiar with the image above. This person is having a ‘skin prick’ or ‘scratch’ test, in which a tiny drop of the possible allergen is pricked into the skin and the reaction measured. Allergens can be a wide variety of substances, from pollens and dust mite faeces to eggs, milk and nuts. Up to 40 different substances can be tested at once.
- Read about How Allergies Work (pages 1, 2 and 3 including the video) and Allergic Reactions at How Stuff Works.
- Read about Autoimmune diseases here and Disorders of the Immune System from BioNinja
This is the link to our Google Presentation on the Immune System. I have allocated one slide with a topic for each pair of students. You can add another slide if you need to, but just a few brief dot points under the heading will be sufficient.
More sites for revision of Unit 3: Area of Study 2:
- A great PowerPoint about the Immune Response – note the diagrams!
- Quizlet flashcards for Unit 3: Area of Study 2: Detecting and Responding
- Acquired Immunity from BioNinja
- Interesting article from CSIRO Helix about “Perfumes for Pests” – a scent that plants produce when infected with jumping plant lice, that also attracts a small parasitoid wasp, which feeds on the lice.