Welcome, expectations, and how this class works
Do now
Learn how Medical Interventions runs day to day, agree on our classroom routines and expectations, and set a personal goal for the semester.
- Hand in
- Exit ticket: your semester goal, one classroom expectation in your own words, and one question.
- Where
- Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Surgeons and lab techs rehearse the boring parts of their job until they are automatic. What are the boring parts of this class we should make automatic this week, so we are free to think later?
Learn how Medical Interventions runs day to day, agree on our classroom routines and expectations, and set a personal goal for the semester.
- • You can describe our daily routine and three classroom expectations.
- • You can explain, in one sentence, what mastery grading means here.
- • You set a personal goal and asked a question.
- Write two things you want to be true about this class by June.
- Name one habit that has helped you learn something hard before.
- 1Icebreaker: Two Truths and a Lie. Write two true facts and one false one about yourself, then we guess as a class.
- 2Hear the big picture: what Medical Interventions is about (fighting infection and the genetics of disease) and why it matters for medicine and biomedical careers.
- 3Walk through our daily routine: how you enter, get materials, where the day's target lives, phones away, and bell-to-bell work.
- 4Review the syllabus highlights together: mastery grading, the WebXam, late work and detentions, and how calls home work.
- 5Set one personal goal for this semester and write one question you have about the class.
What did this day actually feel like?
Welcome, expectations, and how this class works
First day, and he did not hand out a syllabus and read it to us. He put a case on the board, asked what we would need to know to solve it, and let us list things for ten minutes. Then he said the list we just made was the course.
The expectations are short enough to remember. Come in ready, write it down, say where your evidence stops.
That last one is going to come up constantly.
Turned in: exit ticket → Exit Tickets folder
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
The same day, drawn.
First day. No syllabus read out loud. He put a question on the board, let us list what we would need to know to answer it, then told us the list was the course. Twenty one weeks of somebody being sick and us having to work out what it is.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
🛠 Get unstuck · pick your level
🔑 Today's words · 5
Tap a word in the lesson for a plain meaning and one example. Recycled into next week's Do-Now.
A logical claim vs. an opinion
What makes a statement a claim you can defend, instead of just an opinion?
A claim is a statement that answers a question and can be supported or challenged with evidence. “This water sample is unsafe to drink” is a claim: we can test it. An opinion is a personal preference that does not have to be defended. “Tap water tastes better than bottled” is an opinion: it is true for you and that is fine.
Science runs on claims, not opinions. A good claim is specific (it says exactly what you think is true), it answers the actual question, and it is testable (there is some evidence that could prove it right or wrong).
The same sentence can hide either one. “Vaccines are good” is vague. “The MMR reduces measles cases in a community” is a claim, because we can go look at the data.
- • Specific: it states exactly what you think is true.
- • On-target: it answers the question that was asked.
- • Testable: some evidence could support it or prove it wrong.
- • Honest: you would change it if the evidence pointed the other way.
- • “Best / worst / prettiest” usually signals an opinion, not a claim.
- • If no possible evidence could change your mind, it is probably an opinion or a belief, not a scientific claim.
Write one claim and one opinion about a topic in this course. For your claim, name one piece of evidence that could prove it wrong.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: This first week sets the pace. When our routines are automatic, we spend the rest of the year learning, not managing.
- 0-8Icebreaker: Two Truths and a Lie
- 8-20What MI is about and why it matters
- 20-40Daily routine + classroom expectations walkthrough
- 40-60Syllabus highlights: mastery grading, WebXam, late work, calls home
- 60-75Set a personal goal + write one question
- 75-80Share goals and close
- • Welcome to Medical Interventions. The most important day of the year is today, because today we decide how we will work.
- • We are going to learn the routines first, so that for the rest of the year we can spend our time on real science instead of on rules.
- • Everything in this class lives on our website, and you will learn to drive it this week.
- • By Friday you will have set up your notebook, learned lab , toured the PLTW portal, and taken a WebXam pretest so we know where you start.
- • Expectations: be on time, be prepared, phone away, be respectful, be on task.
- • Your grade reflects what you can demonstrate (mastery), not points for compliance.
- • The WebXam is the Ohio end-of-course exam. It reports how well you know the material; how it is used is set by the state and the district, not by this class.
Orientation: daily icebreakers, the daily lesson pages and website, what notes should look like (Cornell + the 6 Rs), the lab notebook, lab safety, the PLTW web portal, and a Friday WebXam pretest. · Welcome, expectations, and how this class works
Day 1 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: Set up your myPLTW (classroom.pltw.org) access and complete the course orientation checklist: routines, website, notebook, contract, and the .
Navigate the website and submit each kind of work with evidence.
Reach the day-1 checkpoint for this unit.
Orientation evidence due this week: completed website scavenger hunt, a notebook sample (first Cornell page), a signed contract with a myPLTW login screenshot, and the baseline WebXam pretest with a mastery goal.
The official PLTW activity stays inside myPLTW. If myPLTW will not open, use F1 and E1-E3 on this page to complete today's local evidence decision, then make up the official activity when access returns. Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not.
Check things off as you work, then submit. This tells Mr. Mendoza how you're doing so he can help the class. It does not replace turning in your producible through the submission route shown below.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
Orientation: daily icebreakers, the daily lesson pages and website, what notes should look like (Cornell + the 6 Rs), the lab notebook, lab safety, the PLTW web portal, and a Friday WebXam pretest. · Welcome, expectations, and how this class works
Set up your myPLTW (classroom.pltw.org) access and complete the course orientation checklist: routines, website, notebook, contract, and the .
Reach the day-1 checkpoint for this unit.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Learn how Medical Interventions runs day to day, agree on our classroom routines and expectations, and set a personal goal for the semester.
- Icebreaker: Two Truths and a Lie. Write two true facts and one false one about yourself, then we guess as a class.
- Hear the big picture: what Medical Interventions is about (fighting infection and the genetics of disease) and why it matters for medicine and biomedical careers.
- Walk through our daily routine: how you enter, get materials, where the day's target lives, phones away, and bell-to-bell work.
- Review the syllabus highlights together: mastery grading, the WebXam, late work and detentions, and how calls home work.
- Set one personal goal for this semester and write one question you have about the class.
Exit ticket: Exit ticket: your semester goal, one classroom expectation in your own words, and one question.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Use the checklist just below and upload by 11:29 PM for full credit. Absent with an excused absence? You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Icebreaker: Two Truths and a Lie. Write two true facts and one false one about yourself, then we guess as a class. | _______ |
| Hear the big picture: what Medical Interventions is about (fighting infection and the genetics of disease) and why it matters for medicine and biomedical careers. | _______ |
| Walk through our daily routine: how you enter, get materials, where the day's target lives, phones away, and bell-to-bell work. | _______ |
| Review the syllabus highlights together: mastery grading, the WebXam, late work and detentions, and how calls home work. | _______ |
| Set one personal goal for this semester and write one question you have about the class. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- You can describe our daily routine and three classroom expectations.
- You can explain, in one sentence, what mastery grading means here.
- You set a personal goal and asked a question.
- 1Do thisLearn how Medical Interventions runs day to day, agree on our classroom routines and expectations, and set a personal goal for the semester.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisExit ticket: Exit ticket: your semester goal, one classroom expectation in your own words, and one question.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the drop folder.
- 2Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 3Upload the file, named Lastname_Firstname__Assignment Title.
- 4Your own upload panel says Uploaded with a green check: that is your receipt.
Turn this in at the drop folder with your district Microsoft sign-in, or hand it to Mr. Mendoza in class. Both count as submitted. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not. Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions) › Orientation: daily icebreakers, the daily lesson pages and website, what notes should look like (Cornell + the 6 Rs), the lab notebook, lab safety, the PLTW web portal, and a Friday WebXam pretest. › Exit ticketOpen the drop folder
Learn it · deck, reading, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
This is the course opener. Use the class routines and evidence rules introduced today as the starting point.
This first week sets the pace. When our routines are automatic, we spend the rest of the year learning, not managing.
An airport checkpoint uses several imperfect checks before deciding what action to take.
- What can each check detect?
- What might create a false alarm?
- Why is one result not always enough?
A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
Medical decisions also depend on biology, patient context, ethics, and professional judgment.
- • Checkpoint evidence maps to E1-E3.
- • False alarms map to test limitations.
- • The response maps to the justified next intervention or test.
Driving question: Surgeons and lab techs rehearse the boring parts of their job until they are automatic. What are the boring parts of this class we should make automatic this week, so we are free to think later?
What you already know: This is the course opener. Use the class routines and evidence rules introduced today as the starting point.
New idea: This first week sets the pace. When our routines are automatic, we spend the rest of the year learning, not managing.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Welcome, expectations, and how this class works. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in Welcome, expectations, and how this class works.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: A decision is stronger when the test fits the question and its limits are known.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Surgeons and lab techs rehearse the boring parts of their job until they are automatic. What are the boring parts of this class we should make automatic this week, so we are free to think later?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • procedure: A clear, ordered set of steps followed exactly the same way each time to carry out a task safely and get reliable results.
- • routine: A consistent set of steps done in the same order each time, which builds good habits and makes work more reliable and efficient.
- • PPE: Personal protective equipment, the gear like gloves, goggles, lab coats, and masks worn to shield the body from chemical, biological, or physical hazards.
- • SDS: A data sheet: a standardized document listing a chemical's hazards, safe handling steps, and emergency measures for anyone using it.
- • : A note-taking layout that splits a page into a wide notes column, a narrow cue column for questions, and a summary strip at the bottom.
- • : A six-step learning cycle (Record, Reduce, Review, Reflect, Recite, Revise) used to turn class notes into deep, lasting understanding.
- • mastery: Knowing a skill or concept well enough to use it confidently under pressure, not just recognizing it on a slide.
- • : An assessment given before instruction begins so you can measure how much was learned by comparing it to a later test on the same material.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
Expectations: be on time, be prepared, phone away, be respectful, be on task.
Limit: E1 supplies context or an observation; it does not by itself establish the explanation.
This first week sets the pace. When our routines are automatic, we spend the rest of the year learning, not managing.
Limit: E2 is a teaching statement or comparison and must be checked against the task evidence.
You can describe our daily routine and three classroom expectations.
Limit: E3 supports only the result or product criterion named here; it cannot justify a broader clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-08-24 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: medical interventions team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from Welcome, expectations, and how this class works supports before submitting the exit response named on the lesson page.
- • Select the option best supported by E1-E3.
- • Select a reasonable alternative and name the evidence it would require.
- • Delay the claim because the evidence does not distinguish the options.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the exit response.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Welcome, expectations, and how this class works. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from Welcome, expectations, and how this class works supports before submitting the exit response named on the lesson page.
Context: A class runs on shared routines. When the routines are automatic, all of our energy goes into the science instead of into figuring out what to do.
- • T1: Icebreaker: Two Truths and a Lie. Write two true facts and one false one about yourself, then we guess as a class.
- • T2: Hear the big picture: what Medical Interventions is about (fighting infection and the genetics of disease) and why it matters for medicine and biomedical careers.
- • T3: Walk through our daily routine: how you enter, get materials, where the day's target lives, phones away, and bell-to-bell work.
- • T4: Review the syllabus highlights together: mastery grading, the WebXam, late work and detentions, and how calls home work.
- • T5: Set one personal goal for this semester and write one question you have about the class.
- • E1: Expectations: be on time, be prepared, phone away, be respectful, be on task.
- • E2: This first week sets the pace. When our routines are automatic, we spend the rest of the year learning, not managing.
- • E3: You can describe our daily routine and three classroom expectations.
Measurements: Use only the measurements, units, graph, or counts supplied in today's task. No additional patient measurement is implied.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Welcome, expectations, and how this class works. Trace the labeled testing, treatment, or biological process and identify where evidence limits the decision. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Mean = sum of values / number of values. Median = middle ordered value. Range = maximum - minimum.
For 2, 4, 4, and 10: mean = 20 / 4 = 5, median = 4, and range = 10 - 2 = 8.
Mean, median, and range keep the measurement unit. Order the values before finding the median.
Calculate the requested summary for today's supplied values, then write what it reveals and what it hides.
Students often think the first week is just rules and busywork before the real class starts. The trap: the routines you build this week are the real class, because they are what let us run labs and hard science later without chaos
Goal: Pass the WebXam and keep an A by turning in every notebook page on time.
Expectation in my own words: My phone stays in my bag so I can focus from bell to bell.
My question: How many times can I retake a mastery check?
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Completes the orientation goal-setting task: a semester goal, a classroom expectation in the student's own words, and one question.
- Name the prompt or task.
- Answer it directly with the key evidence.
- Check that the response matches the requested format.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in Welcome, expectations, and how this class works. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Vetted readings and references for this unit. Use them to prepare, to catch up if you were absent, or to go deeper on today's target.
May require a free account. Use the class copy if you cannot sign in.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
Claim ceiling for this check: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Welcome, expectations, and how this class works. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
In your own words, what does mastery grading mean here, and how is it different from getting points for turning things in?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Go further and get help▸
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
Today's work depends on equipment and locations in our lab, so it cannot be finished from home. Do the part that travels: read the target above and the safety notes, and write what you already know.
Back in class. The in-room part has to be done in the room. See Mr. Mendoza on your first day back and he will run it with you before you work at the bench.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
CDC Laboratory Safety- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedTurned in the right way, on the class site or handed to Mr. Mendoza in class, and confirmed. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.