Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
Vaccines: training our defenders
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/vaccines/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/vaccines/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Know that vaccines train the immune system to recognise a germ.
- Know that the body makes antibodies and remembers the germ.
- Know that vaccines also help protect people who cannot have them.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: what do our body's defenders do? (Link to the immune system lesson.) |
| 10 min | Read the text together. |
| 15 min | Lock-and-key experiment: first try and second try. |
| 5 min | Game: True or not true? |
| 5 min | Quiz and worksheet. |
Materials for the experiment
- Card 'germs' with different shaped notches (a triangle, a square, a half-circle, a zigzag)
- Card 'antibodies' with matching shapes, plus some that do not fit
- A tray or envelope for the antibody cards
- A sand timer or stopwatch
Safety: Use cards that are already cut out, or round-ended scissors with an adult. This is a pretend game: nobody needs to talk about their own vaccines or health.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| A vaccine is a medicine that makes you better when you are ill. | A vaccine is given before you meet the germ, to train your defenders. |
| A vaccine gives you the illness. | A vaccine shows the body a weakened or harmless part of the germ, without the illness. |
| If I'm fine, vaccines don't matter for anyone else. | When many people are protected, germs spread less, which helps protect babies and others. |
Worksheet answers
- A germ shape and an antibody with the matching shape fitted together.
- Antibodies.
- Faster (usually): the antibody was already 'remembered'.
- Germs find it hard to spread, so people who cannot have vaccines, like very young babies, are protected too.
Quiz answers
- What does a vaccine do? Helps your body learn to fight a germ. A vaccine trains the immune system.[3]
- What does your body make after a vaccine? Antibodies. Vaccines teach the body to make antibodies.[3]
- If the real germ comes later, your body can fight it… faster. The body remembers the germ and responds faster.[2]
- Which is common after a vaccine? A sore arm for 2 or 3 days. A red, sore arm for a few days is a common side effect.[3]
- Which illness is gone from the world thanks to vaccines? Smallpox. WHO declared smallpox wiped out in 1980.[6]
Going further
Make a class story: 'The day the defenders practised'. Do not ask pupils about their own vaccinations.
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] Explaining How Vaccines Work (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (USA)): reliability High
- [2] How do vaccines work? (World Health Organization): reliability High
- [3] Why vaccination is important and the safest way to protect yourself (NHS (UK National Health Service)): reliability High
- [4] Concepts of Biology, 17.3 Adaptive Immunity (OpenStax, Rice University): reliability High
- [6] History of smallpox vaccination (World Health Organization): reliability High
- [7] What is herd immunity? (The Royal Society (UK)): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/vaccines/sources/
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