Pathogen categories
Safety gate · before any work
- Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
Do now
Compare bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites so you can reason about what might cause an outbreak.
- Hand in
- Four-row pathogen comparison table (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites) with size, cell status, example disease, treatment, and distinguishing feature columns.
- 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.
Your outbreak clues point somewhere. Before anyone prescribes a single pill, why does it matter whether the culprit is a bacterium, a virus, a fungus, or a parasite?
Compare bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites so you can reason about what might cause an outbreak.
- • You will be able to compare the four major categories.
- • You will be able to match a disease example to its type.
- • You will be able to explain why treatment depends on category.
- A friend has a cold caused by a virus and asks for your leftover antibiotics. Will they help? Explain in one sentence.
- Name one way you could tell a bacterium apart from a virus if you could see them under the right microscope.
- 1Make a four-row table for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
- 2For each, fill in size, whether it is a cell, and one example disease using the online resource.
- 3Add a column for how each is typically treated (note that antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses).
- 4Highlight one feature that helps you tell each type apart.
- 5Match each of your earlier outbreak clues to the type it best fits.
- 6Write one sentence naming your leading suspect category and why.
What did this day actually feel like?
Pathogen categories
Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and what actually separates them. The practical difference is that an antibiotic works on one of those four and does nothing to the rest.
Turned in: data table → Data Tables 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.
Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, and what actually separates them. The practical difference is that an antibiotic works on one of those four and does nothing to the rest.
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
Lab day: Tier 1 is the whole class at the bench. No extension today.
🔑 Today's words · 5
Tap a word in the lesson for a plain meaning and one example. Recycled into next week's Do-Now.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
- 0-10 minQuick review: share your signs-and-symptoms prediction from Tuesday; does the class agree?
- 10-30 minBuild four-row comparison table: type, size, cell or not, example disease, typical treatment
- 30-45 minAdd the distinguishing-feature column; highlight one feature per row
- 45-60 minMatch each of Tuesday's outbreak clues to the type it best fits
- 60-72 minWrite one sentence naming the leading suspect category and the clues that point to it
- 72-80 minClass share: which categories got the most votes and what feature tipped the decision?
- • Giving an for a virus is not just useless; it actively contributes to the resistance crisis threatening modern medicine.
- • The four categories are the foundation of every outbreak investigation: you can't hunt what you can't name.
- • Today you build the comparison table you will reference throughout this unit and all of Unit 1.
- • Exit goal: a complete four-row table with a leading-suspect sentence tied to Tuesday's clues.
- • Bacteria are single-celled prokaryotes; viruses are not cells at all; fungi are eukaryotes; parasites range from single-celled to multicellular.
- • Antibiotics kill or inhibit bacteria by targeting structures human cells lack; they have no effect on viruses.
- • Correct classification is required before any treatment can be chosen, which is why diagnosis precedes prescription.
Outbreak investigation, symptom clusters, pathogen categories, evidence maps. Monday debate: isolation vs. autonomy. · categories
Day 3 of this lesson. Open this exact section in myPLTW (find it in Clever, Microsoft sign-in), then do the work below.
Do this: Continue in Activity 1.1.2 Investigating an Outbreak and build the four-row comparison table using the case resources in myPLTW.
Complete the comparison table with your leading-suspect sentence.
Signs/symptoms chart should be done (Tuesday); table due today.
Completed four-row comparison table in notebook.
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.
Outbreak investigation, symptom clusters, pathogen categories, evidence maps. Monday debate: isolation vs. autonomy. · Pathogen categories
Continue in Activity 1.1.2 Investigating an Outbreak and build the four-row comparison table using the case resources in myPLTW.
Signs/symptoms chart should be done (Tuesday); table due today.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Compare bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites so you can reason about what might cause an outbreak.
- Make a four-row table for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
- For each, fill in size, whether it is a cell, and one example disease using the online resource.
- Add a column for how each is typically treated (note that antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses).
- Highlight one feature that helps you tell each type apart.
- Match each of your earlier outbreak clues to the type it best fits.
- Write one sentence naming your leading suspect category and why.
Data table: Four-row comparison table (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites) with size, cell status, example disease, treatment, and distinguishing feature columns.
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 |
|---|---|
| Make a four-row table for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. | _______ |
| For each, fill in size, whether it is a cell, and one example disease using the online resource. | _______ |
| Add a column for how each is typically treated (note that antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses). | _______ |
| Highlight one feature that helps you tell each type apart. | _______ |
| Match each of your earlier outbreak clues to the type it best fits. | _______ |
| Write one sentence naming your leading suspect category and why. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- You will be able to compare the four major categories.
- You will be able to match a disease example to its type.
- You will be able to explain why treatment depends on category.
- 1Do thisCompare bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites so you can reason about what might cause an outbreak.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisData table: Four-row pathogen comparison table (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites) with size, cell status, example disease, treatment, and distinguishing feature columns.
- 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) › Outbreak investigation, symptom clusters, pathogen categories, evidence maps. Monday debate: isolation vs. autonomy. › Data tableOpen 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.
Clinicians separate signs from symptoms because measurable findings and reported experiences each catch clues the other misses, so using both together builds a stronger differential than either alone.
A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
Wet footprints appear across connected rooms after one person enters from the rain.
- Which footprint came first?
- Which rooms connect?
- What pattern would support more than one entry point?
Patterns across time and connection can narrow a explanation without proving it by themselves.
People change behavior, infections have periods, and surveillance data can be incomplete.
- • Footprints map to recorded cases.
- • Room connections map to exposures.
- • The route hypothesis maps to a limited claim.
Driving question: Your outbreak clues point somewhere. Before anyone prescribes a single pill, why does it matter whether the culprit is a bacterium, a virus, a fungus, or a parasite?
What you already know: Clinicians separate signs from symptoms because measurable findings and reported experiences each catch clues the other misses, so using both together builds a stronger differential than either alone.
New idea: A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Pathogen categories. 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 categories.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Patterns across time and connection can narrow a explanation without proving it by themselves.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Your outbreak clues point somewhere. Before anyone prescribes a single pill, why does it matter whether the culprit is a bacterium, a virus, a fungus, or a parasite?
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.
- • : A microorganism such as a bacterium, virus, fungus, or parasite that can cause disease in its host.
- • symptom: A sign of illness that a patient feels or notices, such as pain, fever, or fatigue, which helps point toward a diagnosis.
- • sign: An objective indication of disease that someone else can observe or measure, such as a fever, rash, or swelling, unlike a symptom the patient feels.
- • outbreak: A sudden rise in cases of a disease above the normal level in a place or group, often spreading quickly and needing rapid response.
- • epidemiology: The study of how diseases spread, who they affect, and what causes them across populations, used to find patterns and guide prevention.
- • reservoir: A living host or environment where a normally lives and multiplies, serving as the source from which infections spread.
- • vector: A that delivers genetic material into a cell, such as a or virus, or an organism like a mosquito that spreads a disease.
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.
Bacteria are single-celled prokaryotes; viruses are not cells at all; fungi are eukaryotes; parasites range from single-celled to multicellular.
Limit: E1 supplies context or an observation; it does not by itself establish the explanation.
A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
Limit: E2 is a teaching statement or comparison and must be checked against the task evidence.
You will be able to compare the four major categories.
Limit: E3 supports only the result or product criterion named here; it cannot justify a broader clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-GEND-2026-09-04 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: medical interventions team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from categories supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on the lesson page.
- • Choose the strongest supported explanation.
- • Choose the next evidence to collect.
- • Hold the decision because the evidence is insufficient.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the labeled and result claim.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about categories. 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 categories supports before submitting the labeled and result claim named on the lesson page.
Context: Treatment is targeted at the biology of the , so naming the pathogen type is not a formality; it is what decides whether a drug will work at all or do nothing.
- • T1: Make a four-row table for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
- • T2: For each, fill in size, whether it is a cell, and one example disease using the online resource.
- • T3: Add a column for how each is typically treated (note that antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses).
- • T4: Highlight one feature that helps you tell each type apart.
- • T5: Match each of your earlier outbreak clues to the type it best fits.
- • T6: Write one sentence naming your leading suspect category and why.
- • E1: Bacteria are single-celled prokaryotes; viruses are not cells at all; fungi are eukaryotes; parasites range from single-celled to multicellular.
- • E2: A treatment only works if it targets structures the actually has, so a doctor must classify the pathogen type before prescribing, because the wrong class of drug does nothing.
- • E3: You will be able to compare the four major categories.
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 categories. 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.
- • The solution must address the stated need in categories.
- • The decision must be supported by E1-E3.
- • The final product must make the success criteria visible.
- • Complete the work inside the 80-minute block.
- • Use only supplied or teacher-approved materials and evidence.
- • Do not trade , accessibility, or privacy for speed.
- • and evidence quality: must pass before scoring other criteria.
- • User need and effectiveness: highest scored criterion.
- • Time, cost, and ease of use: compare only after and effectiveness pass.
Test evidence: For each option, record the E1-E3 result that supports or fails each criterion. Do not assign a score without a named observation.
- Version or option tested
- Criterion met or missed
- Evidence ID and result
- Revision made
- Reason for the revision
- Need and user
- Criteria and constraints
- Chosen option and evidence
- Test result
- Revision and reason
Students often think Students often believe antibiotics are general germ-killers that work on anything that makes you sick.. The trap: Antibiotics only work on bacteria because they attack structures bacteria have and human cells lack, like the bacterial cell wall. Viruses have none of those targets, so an has nothing to grab. Treating a virus with antibiotics is not a weaker fix, it is no fix, and it helps breed resistant bacteria.
Leading suspect: my outbreak clues (fever, rash, spread person-to-person, and no response to antibiotics in a similar past case) best fit a virus, because viruses are not cells and antibiotics cannot target them.
| Pathogen | A cell? | Example disease | Typical treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacteria | Yes (prokaryote) | Strep throat | Antibiotics |
| Virus | No | Influenza | Antivirals, vaccines |
| Fungus | Yes (eukaryote) | Athlete's foot | Antifungals |
| Parasite | Yes (single or multicellular) | Malaria | Antiparasitics |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A four-row comparison of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites covering size, cell status, an example disease, treatment, and a distinguishing feature, plus a leading-suspect sentence.
- Name the variables and include units.
- Enter observations without changing the raw values.
- Check labels, calculations, and patterns before interpreting the data.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Keep in notebook; photograph and upload to portfolio by Friday.
- 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 Pathogen categories. 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.
Classroom documents for this lesson are posted in Schoology. Open Clever, then Schoology, and find each one by the name shown on its card.
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Outbreak investigation and case framing by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:outbreak, . Score 142. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this if you were absent, got stuck, or need another pass before you submit the lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Outbreak investigation and case framing by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/1.1_The-Mystery-Infection; keywords:outbreak, case. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this after the required lesson work when you are ready for a harder application or a deeper connection.
Placement rationale
Matched Outbreak investigation and case framing by path:Medical-Interventions/Unit-1_How-to-Fight-Infection/00_Unit-Overview; keywords:outbreak, . Score 134. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
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 categories. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
A patient's illness is confirmed to be caused by a virus, but they were given a full course of antibiotics. Predict what happens to the infection, and explain why in terms of pathogen biology.
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Go further and get help▸
I can name the procedure's purpose and the evidence I will record. I can identify each named hazard and the control that reduces it: Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start. My data table is ready before materials are handled.
Finish the checklist before you handle any material.
- • Wear the required PPE, keep the bench clear, handle equipment only as directed, and know where the eyewash, sink, and spill kit are before you start.
- • Human samples and data stay private: label with a code, never a name, and dispose of materials in the correct waste container, then wash your hands.
- 1Before materials are handled, identify the purpose, variables or comparison, controls, measurement units, and stop-work condition.
- 2Make a four-row table for bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.
- 3For each, fill in size, whether it is a cell, and one example disease using the online resource.
- 4Add a column for how each is typically treated (note that antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses).
- 5Highlight one feature that helps you tell each pathogen type apart.
- 6Match each of your earlier outbreak clues to the pathogen type it best fits.
- 7Write one sentence naming your leading suspect category and why.
- 8Record each result in the prepared table before interpreting it. Mark missing, repeated, or invalid results truthfully.
- 9Complete the named cleanup and waste route, remove PPE safely, wash hands when required, and confirm the station is ready for the next group.
| Trial or sample ID | Independent condition | Measured result with units | Observation before interpretation | Quality-control note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Before the procedure, predict the result and cite the rule behind the prediction.
After the procedure, compare the result with the prediction and name one limitation or source of uncertainty.
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 is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your Data table.
Open the drop folderTurn 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.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
CDC: Principles of Epidemiology (self-study)- 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.
- Error analysis and method · counts doubleName a specific limit of the method and how it moved your result, and compare what you predicted to what happened. "Human error" does not count; say what about the procedure or instrument caused it.