Vaccine and disease-model lab
Mon, Oct 12, 2026 · Week 8 · Genetics of Disease (Medical Interventions)
Today's goal: Model how a vaccine triggers adaptive immunity and use disease-spread data to test a simple outbreak prediction.
This is a model of the work you should turn in today. Use it to check your own: match the structure and the level of detail, do not copy it. Your data and wording should be your own.
Adaptive immunity diagram (in words, in the order the arrows go):
1. Antigen: a pathogen carries antigens, molecules the immune system can recognize.
2. Helper T cell: an antigen-presenting cell shows a piece of the antigen to a helper T cell, and the helper T cell becomes active.
3. B cell: the active helper T cell switches on the B cell whose receptor fits that same antigen.
4. Antibody: that B cell divides, and many of its copies become plasma cells, which are activated B cells that release antibodies. Antibodies stick to the antigen and tag the pathogen for destruction.
5. Memory cells: some of the B cells and T cells stay behind as long-lived memory cells, so a second exposure gets a faster, stronger response.
A vaccine delivers the antigen without the disease, so steps 1 to 5 happen and memory cells form without the illness.
Parallel data, not your model: this worked example uses a different practice run, where the thing that changes is the percent of sick people who stay home, not the percent vaccinated. The table below is from that parallel run only.
Comparison sentence for the parallel run: Staying home works outside the body by cutting how many people one sick person can reach, and the parallel data show fewer new infections when more sick people stay home. Your own sentence compares the antibody response inside one body with your vaccination data, so it will say something different.
| Sick people who stay home | New infections (parallel practice run) |
|---|---|
| 20% | 150 |
| 60% | 64 |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: Completes the vaccine modeling lab: an adaptive immunity diagram, a two-scenario disease-model data table, and one sentence comparing the antibody response with the population data.
- State the question and method.
- Present the observations and data with units.
- Explain the result, limitations, and next investigation.
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: Submit the diagram, data table, and comparison sentence as one PDF to Schoology assignment Wk8 Lab report: Vaccine and disease-model lab.
Turn in: Adaptive immunity diagram (antigen, helper T cell, B cell, antibody, memory cells), two-scenario disease-model data table, and one comparison sentence.
Go to Schoology to turn this in.
Submit one PDF. Schoology attaches your name to your upload; on the page itself, write your period and code. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf.
Open Schoology PDF upload helpIf you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
One exam-style question that uses exactly what you practiced today. Try it before you reveal the answer, then read why each choice is right or wrong.
Tap an answer to see the full explanation. Nothing is recorded or graded.
It builds this reusable test skill: Explaining how a vaccine primes memory cells for a faster secondary response.
- Name the concept or data pattern being tested.
- Cross out choices that violate that rule or the evidence.
- Justify the best remaining choice before checking the answer.