Bioethics: who owns a body?
Do now
Debate whether studying human anatomy on real specimens is ethical, and defend your stance with a claim-evidence-reasoning post.
- Hand in
- One-paragraph CER posted to the class board taking a position on anatomical donation for education.
- 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.
A body donated to science teaches a hundred future doctors. What did that person, and their family, have to agree to first, and what do we owe them in return?
Debate whether studying human on real specimens is ethical, and defend your stance with a claim-evidence-reasoning post.
- • You can state a clear ethical claim about anatomical donation.
- • You can name a counter-argument and respond to it.
- Would you donate your body to science? What would you want to be true first?
- Who besides the donor has a stake in that decision?
- 1Read the Philosophy-for-Kids prompt: should medical students learn on donated human bodies, or only on models?
- 2List two reasons a person might donate their body and two reasons a family might object.
- 3Take a side and write a one-sentence claim with your strongest reason.
- 4Debate in your John Carroll bioethics group, recording the best counter-argument you heard.
- 5Post a short CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) response to the class board.
What did this day actually feel like?
Bioethics: who owns a body?
ETHICS DAY First day and we went straight into it. Should medical students learn anatomy on donated human bodies, or only on simulations? I said donated bodies obviously, because a simulation cannot surprise you and a real one can.
Then someone asked whether the family gets a say after the person has died, and whether consent given years ago still counts when the body is in the room. I did not have an answer. We wrote our first CER, which is Claim, Evidence, Reasoning, and mine was mostly claim.
Mr. Mendoza said the whole year runs on real bodies and real data, and that the ethics question comes first every Monday for that reason, not as a warm-up.
Turned in: CER → Claim Evidence Reasoning 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 and we went straight into it. Should medical students learn anatomy on donated human bodies, or only on simulations?
MR. MENDOZA
This whole year runs on real bodies and real data. That is why the ethics question comes first.
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.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: Medical knowledge advances through the study of real human bodies, which raises genuine ethical questions about consent and respect.
- 0-5Intro and framing of the bioethics prompt
- 5-20Independent reading and two-column reason list
- 20-35John Carroll bioethics group debate
- 35-50Draft one-sentence claim and strongest evidence
- 50-70Write and post CER to class board
- 70-80Whole-class share-out of best counter-arguments heard
- • Good morning. This week we launch Human Body Systems, a course that covers , physiology, and pathophysiology.
- • Today is not a vocabulary day. It is a thinking day. We are going to wrestle with a real question: who has the right to study a human body after death?
- • Before we argue, I want you to notice that this question has no clean answer. Your job is to build the strongest case you can for one side.
- • By the end of class you will have posted a CER. That is a claim, a piece of evidence, and your reasoning. That format will follow us all year.
- • Anatomical donation requires and serves educational and research purposes.
- • Bioethics weighs benefits to society against individual rights and dignity.
- • A CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) is the standard scientific argument format used throughout HBS.
Course Launch: PLTW access, BioDigital/Maniken routines, lab notebook, PPE/SDS, anatomy language, measurement norms. · Bioethics: who owns a body?
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: Open Lesson 1.1 Beginning with Bones in myPLTW and complete the introductory online activity for the course launch; use it to ground a fact in your bioethics CER about anatomical donation.
Mark the course-launch activity complete in myPLTW after posting your CER to the class board.
You have not yet started Lesson 1.1; by the end of today you should have the course-launch task checked off and your CER posted.
Screenshot of myPLTW completion status attached to your tracker entry.
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.
Course Launch: PLTW access, BioDigital/Maniken routines, lab notebook, PPE/SDS, anatomy language, measurement norms. · Bioethics: who owns a body?
Open Lesson 1.1 Beginning with Bones in myPLTW and complete the introductory online activity for the course launch; use it to ground a fact in your bioethics CER about anatomical donation.
You have not yet started Lesson 1.1; by the end of today you should have the course-launch task checked off and your CER posted.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Debate whether studying human on real specimens is ethical, and defend your stance with a claim-evidence-reasoning post.
- Read the Philosophy-for-Kids prompt: should medical students learn on donated human bodies, or only on models?
- List two reasons a person might donate their body and two reasons a family might object.
- Take a side and write a one-sentence claim with your strongest reason.
- Debate in your John Carroll bioethics group, recording the best counter-argument you heard.
- Post a short CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) response to the class board.
CER: One-paragraph CER posted to the class board taking a position on anatomical donation for education.
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 |
|---|---|
| Read the Philosophy-for-Kids prompt: should medical students learn on donated human bodies, or only on models? | _______ |
| List two reasons a person might donate their body and two reasons a family might object. | _______ |
| Take a side and write a one-sentence claim with your strongest reason. | _______ |
| Debate in your John Carroll bioethics group, recording the best counter-argument you heard. | _______ |
| Post a short CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) response to the class board. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- You can state a clear ethical claim about anatomical donation.
- You can name a counter-argument and respond to it.
- 1Do thisDebate whether studying human anatomy on real specimens is ethical, and defend your stance with a claim-evidence-reasoning post.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisCER: One-paragraph CER posted to the class board taking a position on anatomical donation for education.
- 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. Human Anatomy & Physiology (Human Body Systems) › Course Launch: PLTW access, BioDigital/Maniken routines, lab notebook, PPE/SDS, anatomy language, measurement norms. › CEROpen 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.
A is not a test you can fail. It shows where you start so we can measure how far you grow.
Medical knowledge advances through the study of real human bodies, which raises genuine ethical questions about consent and respect.
A mechanic studies a tool whose shape allows one job but limits another.
- Which feature makes the tool work?
- What changes if that feature bends or breaks?
- Which observation shows function rather than appearance?
Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
Living tissues adapt and interact with other systems; a metal tool does not.
- • Tool shape maps to .
- • The job maps to physiological function.
- • Damage maps to a predicted functional change.
Driving question: A body donated to science teaches a hundred future doctors. What did that person, and their family, have to agree to first, and what do we owe them in return?
What you already know: A is not a test you can fail. It shows where you start so we can measure how far you grow.
New idea: Medical knowledge advances through the study of real human bodies, which raises genuine ethical questions about consent and respect.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Bioethics: who owns a body?. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in Bioethics: who owns a body?.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: A body donated to science teaches a hundred future doctors. What did that person, and their family, have to agree to first, and what do we owe them in return?
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.
- • : The study of the body's structure and how its parts are arranged, from whole organs down to individual tissues and cells.
- • physiology: The study of how the body's parts function and work together to keep an organism alive and healthy.
- • : The body's ongoing process of keeping internal conditions like temperature, blood sugar, and pH steady despite changes in the outside environment.
- • : A direction term meaning toward the front of the body, such as the chest being to the spine.
- • : An anatomical direction meaning toward the back of the body or behind another structure.
- • : A direction term meaning closer to the point where a limb attaches to the body, such as the elbow being to the wrist.
- • : An anatomical direction meaning farther from the point where a limb attaches to the body or from the origin of a structure.
- • : An anatomical direction meaning toward the head or upper part of the body, the opposite of .
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.
Anatomical donation requires and serves educational and research purposes.
Limit: E1 supplies context or an observation; it does not by itself establish the explanation.
Medical knowledge advances through the study of real human bodies, which raises genuine ethical questions about consent and respect.
Limit: E2 is a teaching statement or comparison and must be checked against the task evidence.
You can state a clear ethical claim about anatomical donation.
Limit: E3 supports only the result or product criterion named here; it cannot justify a broader clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-HAP-2027-01-28 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: anatomy and physiology consultant
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from Bioethics: who owns a body? supports before submitting the claim-evidence-reasoning response 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 claim-evidence-reasoning response.
Claim ceiling: The supplied lesson evidence can support an observation, pattern, classroom mechanism, or next-step decision about Bioethics: who owns a body?. 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 Bioethics: who owns a body? supports before submitting the claim-evidence-reasoning response named on the lesson page.
Context: Medical knowledge advances by studying real human bodies, which is why consent, respect, and dignity are built into how is taught and practiced.
- • T1: Read the Philosophy-for-Kids prompt: should medical students learn on donated human bodies, or only on models?
- • T2: List two reasons a person might donate their body and two reasons a family might object.
- • T3: Take a side and write a one-sentence claim with your strongest reason.
- • T4: Debate in your John Carroll bioethics group, recording the best counter-argument you heard.
- • T5: Post a short CER (claim, evidence, reasoning) response to the class board.
- • E1: Anatomical donation requires and serves educational and research purposes.
- • E2: Medical knowledge advances through the study of real human bodies, which raises genuine ethical questions about consent and respect.
- • E3: You can state a clear ethical claim about anatomical donation.
Measurements: No patient measurement is supplied unless it appears explicitly in E1-E3 or F1. Do not invent a value.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Bioethics: who owns a body?. Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function. 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.
Students often think once a body is donated, anything can be done with it. The trap: donation requires for specific purposes, and dignity and respect still govern how the body is treated
Claim: A healthy adult should be allowed to donate a kidney to a family member, because a fully informed, freely made choice to help a relative is the donor's right to make.\nEvidence: A person can live a normal, healthy life with one working kidney, and transplant programs require donors to pass medical and psychological screening before surgery. Living-donor programs also require documented informed consent, and they use an independent advocate whose only job is to protect the donor, not the patient who needs the organ.\nReasoning: Because the donor is screened for safety and gives consent through a process built to catch coercion, the two main ethical objections (bodily harm and pressure from the family) are directly addressed. Once those protections are in place, respecting the donor's own decision honors their autonomy, so a screened and consented living donation is justified.\nCounter-argument I heard and my response: One classmate argued that a relative might feel pressured to donate even if no one says it out loud. I agree that quiet pressure is real, which is exactly why the independent donor advocate and the private medical opt-out exist, letting a donor step back at any point without the family ever knowing the reason.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A short claim-evidence-reasoning post modeling the format on a different bioethics question (living organ donation between family members), so you can see the structure and depth without seeing an answer to today's own prompt.
- Write one defensible claim.
- Choose specific evidence that supports the claim.
- Explain the scientific rule that connects the evidence to the claim.
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: Post to the class board and screenshot your post as proof of submission.
- 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 Bioethics: who owns a body?. 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.
Hand-picked readings, videos, and interactives for this lesson, all free and from authoritative open organizations (NIH, CDC, OpenStax, Khan Academy, PhET, HHMI, and more).
A fillable, Cornell-style notebook for Unit 1: Road to Rehabilitation. Type your notes, cues, and summaries right in the PDF, or print it and write by hand. Each lesson page has a cue column, a notes column, and a summary box, plus dated lab-record pages you can turn in.
HBS Unit 1 notebook: Road to Rehabilitation Fillable PDFCornell notes + lab recordsOpenClassroom 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 as the classroom resource for HBS launch and body systems overview.
Placement rationale
Matched HBS launch and body systems overview by path:Human-Body-Systems/00-Course-Planning; keywords:body systems. Score 130. 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 Bioethics: who owns a body?. It cannot by itself prove causation, establish a real clinical diagnosis, or justify action outside this classroom task.
What has to be true before a donated body can be used to teach anatomy, and what still limits how it is used?
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▸
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.
Read the linked sources on body donation, consent, and cadaver-vs-model education, then post a written CER taking a side on whether real- study is justified, citing one fact from a source.
UCSF Willed Body ProgramThen submit your CER. 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.
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.