Sickle Cell Anemia Investigation :Day 2

Our goal for this day was to observe how blood typically passes through capillaries.

I went to the store and got 17 feeder goldfish I had them set in a bucket in my garage over-night so the water was nice and cool and their oxygen demands were low.

The students have five minutes to view the fish and take a video with their phones. These are mostly uploaded to their social media platforms. I feel that this is actually a compliment. An additional bonus is that my classes later in the day walk in begging to do ‘the fish thing’.

Next, students observe and draw prepared slides of red blood cells and sickle cells.

When I go to close class I explain that one of the complications of sickle cell anemia is that it can cause blood clots. I am careful to draw attention to the fact that the function of blood cells is related to its structure. This is a big theme for us in our discussion of cells. The point of this lesson can’t be missed.