This class runs in two periods and they do not do the same lesson on the same day. You are reading the Period 6A-7B calendar, the one with John Carroll bioethics on Mondays.
Drug formulation and pH
Do now
Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
- Hand in
- One sentence recording the strongest opposing argument heard during the device innovation ethics debate.
- Where
- Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
You get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
If the form offers you a saved draft, choose New draft. If the Assignment box comes up empty, type it exactly: Drug formulation and pH
Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
- • State why , not digestion, is the target and which organ does it.
- • Read the pH scale in the correct direction: a lower number means more acid.
- What do you already know about Drug formulation and pH?
- What would you need to find out to answer today's question?
- 1Map the GI tract and name four accessory organs and what each contributes.
- 2Place stomach and small intestine on the pH scale and state which is acidic.
- 3Predict, in writing, what an uncoated tablet does in stomach acid before you watch the demonstration.
- 4Compare your prediction against the demonstration and record what differed.
- 5Name the two coating polymers and what cross-linking does to each.
🛠 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.
🧭 Everything on this day
Check you have the right sheet: the top of it prints today's portal day, Drug formulation and pH. The PLTW activity itself is in myPLTW and is not posted here.
Do the work · 80-minute blockfirst 5 min = hook▸
💡 Big idea: A pill has to survive one organ to reach another, so the coating is solving a transport problem, not a chemistry-class problem.
- 0-8 minRead the device case; annotate one patient who benefits from rapid deployment and one harmed by insufficient testing.
- 8-18 minDefine prototype, iteration, disease prevention, testing threshold.
- 18-35 minBuild two-point argument for your assigned stance.
- 35-60 minStructured debate; teacher tracks vocabulary use.
- 60-72 minRecord the strongest opposing argument.
- 72-80 minWhole-class debrief; preview Wednesday device lab.
- • Wednesday you will build and test a device model: today you argue about how long that testing should last before a device reaches a real patient.
- • Rapid deployment and extended testing are not just business decisions; they are ethical commitments.
- • WebXam 072110 Biotechnology strand includes the engineering design cycle, which is built on iterative testing.
- • The argument you hear from the opposing side is the exact argument the FDA makes before approving a device.
- • A prototype is an early model built to test a specific function, not a finished product.
- • Iteration means redesigning based on test data, not intuition: each cycle should be driven by evidence.
- • Disease prevention goals shape device design criteria: you cannot test what you did not specify.
Unit 4.1 Innovation, Inc.: Engineering design, device/vessel model, CAD concept, prototype testing, disease prevention. · Drug formulation and pH
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 myPLTW and locate Lesson 4.1 Designing the Future, Activity 4.1.5 Drug Design Lab. Read the digestive-tract and pH sections before the debate.
Submit the opening prompt before the debate begins.
You finished Unit 3 last week. Today starts Unit 4 Innovation with Lesson 4.1 Designing the Future. The platform prompt should be submitted within the first 18 minutes.
Platform submission plus handwritten opposing-argument note.
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. Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
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.
Unit 4.1 Innovation, Inc.: Engineering design, device/vessel model, CAD concept, prototype testing, disease prevention. · Drug formulation and pH
Open myPLTW and locate Lesson 4.1 Designing the Future, Activity 4.1.5 Drug Design Lab. Read the digestive-tract and pH sections before the debate.
You finished Unit 3 last week. Today starts Unit 4 Innovation with Lesson 4.1 Designing the Future. The platform prompt should be submitted within the first 18 minutes.
This is how Mr. Mendoza sees the class keeping pace with PLTW. Be honest, it only helps if it is accurate.
🎯 Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
- Map the GI tract and name four accessory organs and what each contributes.
- Place stomach and small intestine on the pH scale and state which is acidic.
- Predict, in writing, what an uncoated tablet does in stomach acid before you watch the demonstration.
- Compare your prediction against the demonstration and record what differed.
- Name the two coating polymers and what cross-linking does to each.
Exit ticket: One sentence recording the strongest opposing argument heard during the device innovation ethics debate.
Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted. 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 |
|---|---|
| Map the GI tract and name four accessory organs and what each contributes. | _______ |
| Place stomach and small intestine on the pH scale and state which is acidic. | _______ |
| Predict, in writing, what an uncoated tablet does in stomach acid before you watch the demonstration. | _______ |
| Compare your prediction against the demonstration and record what differed. | _______ |
| Name the two coating polymers and what cross-linking does to each. | _______ |
Working solo? Put your own name in "Who" for every row.
- State why , not digestion, is the target and which organ does it.
- Read the pH scale in the correct direction: a lower number means more acid.
- 1Do thisSeparate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
- 2Use this resource
- 3Submit thisExit ticket: One sentence recording the strongest opposing argument heard during the device innovation ethics debate.
- 4Submit it here
- 1Open the form. It must say For students at the top: if it says For parents and guardians, press Back and pick I am the student.
- 2If it offers you a saved draft, choose New draft: an old draft brings back the old assignment.
- 3Sign in with your district Microsoft account, not a personal one.
- 4Check the Assignment box says today's assignment from this page, then pick your period and type your student ID, all nine digits.
- 5Attach your file and press Submit. The thank-you page is your receipt.
Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted. Principles of Biomedical Technology (Principles of Biomedical Science) › Unit 4.1 Innovation, Inc.: Engineering design, device/vessel model, CAD concept, prototype testing, disease prevention. › Exit ticketTurn it in
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 design is defensible only when each feature traces to user evidence, so a CER forces justification because it makes you link every choice to a real need and a usability principle.
A pill has to survive one organ to reach another, so the coating is solving a transport problem, not a chemistry-class problem.
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: Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
What you already know: A design is defensible only when each feature traces to user evidence, so a CER forces justification because it makes you link every choice to a real need and a usability principle.
New idea: A pill has to survive one organ to reach another, so the coating is solving a transport problem, not a chemistry-class problem.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Drug formulation and pH. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Use the labels and arrows in F1 to identify the relationship that supports Drug formulation and pH.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- 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: Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
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.
- • prototype: Use the lesson context and glossary entry to explain prototype in your own words.
- • constraint: A limit or requirement that a design must work within, such as a budget, available time, materials, or rules.
- • criterion: A clear, agreed-upon standard or rule used to judge, compare, or decide between options.
- • CAD: Computer-aided design: software used to create precise digital models of objects, such as prosthetics or medical devices, before building them.
- • iteration: One repeated cycle of building, testing, and improving, where each pass refines the design or result based on what the last pass revealed.
- • : A small mesh tube placed inside a narrowed or blocked vessel or duct to hold it open and keep fluid flowing.
- • prevention: Actions taken to stop a disease or injury before it happens, such as vaccines, screenings, or healthy daily habits.
- • : A written outline of what will be tested, how, and what counts as success, used to guide an experiment or product check.
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.
Digestion uses coordinated mechanical and chemical processes to break down food, absorb nutrients, and move material, with each organ contributing a distinct part of the system.
Limit: A classroom model simplifies regulation, individual variation, microbial interactions, and disease.
Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
Limit: Living tissues adapt and interact with other systems; a metal tool does not.
State why , not digestion, is the target and which organ does it.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-PBT@P67-2026-12-09 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: biomedical team member
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the exit 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 exit response.
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.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the exit response named on the lesson page.
Context: Separate a drug's active from its inactive ingredients and explain why a pill must survive the stomach and open in the small intestine.
- • T1: Map the GI tract and name four accessory organs and what each contributes.
- • T2: Place stomach and small intestine on the pH scale and state which is acidic.
- • T3: Predict, in writing, what an uncoated tablet does in stomach acid before you watch the demonstration.
- • T4: Compare your prediction against the demonstration and record what differed.
- • T5: Name the two coating polymers and what cross-linking does to each.
- • E1: Digestion uses coordinated mechanical and chemical processes to break down food, absorb nutrients, and move material, with each organ contributing a distinct part of the system.
- • E2: Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
- • E3: State why , not digestion, is the target and which organ does it.
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 Drug formulation and pH. Use the labels and arrows to identify the decision-relevant relationship. 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.
- • The solution must address the stated need in today's lesson.
- • 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
1. Decision or claim I am testing: ____
2. Evidence ID and exact observation: ____
3. Second evidence ID and exact observation: ____
4. Rule that connects the evidence to my claim: ____
5. Strongest alternative or tradeoff: ____
6. Limitation or missing evidence that controls my confidence: ____
7. Revision I would make if the missing evidence changed: ____
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A blank structure for organizing the assigned response. It contains no claim, ranking, calculation, data interpretation, or recommendation from today's task.
- 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.
Also due today: Hand in your exit-ticket card, or turn it in on the class site under today's exit-ticket.
- 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 Drug formulation and pH. 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 and interactives for this lesson, from authoritative open organizations and PLTW's own public course outline.
Check yourself · commit, then reveal▸
Claim ceiling for this check: 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.
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▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands.
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.
Structured debate: Should a life-saving device be released after minimal testing or held for extended trials? Assign rapid-deployment and extended-testing teams.
OSHA: Hazard Prevention and ControlThen submit your Exit ticket. Submit this on the class form named on this page. The form requires the student's district Microsoft sign-in. The thank-you page is the submission receipt. A physical handoff counts only when the day page names that route. Doing the activity in myPLTW does not count as submitted.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
PhET: simulations for engineering and physical testingYou've passed Unit 2, so the optional extra-credit track is open. Complete reserved-unit work from home, including virtual labs, for extra credit. Each item shows its correct submission route.
Open the extra-credit track- 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 through the one route named under Submit here and confirmed by the form receipt or the named physical handoff. Not in Schoology: that is where the report-card grade appears later.