Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes	Part A. Current careers in Organ Donation and Transplantation
20 minutes	Part B. Innovations in Transplantation
40 minutes	Part C. Presentations
5 minutes	Reflection

Part A. Current careers in Organ Donation and Transplantation

Step 1.

Ask students to put forward answers for this question and write their answers on the board:

What careers do you think exist because of the need for organ transplantation?

Step 2.

Have students read the Careers In Donation And Transplantation Factsheet. Distribute the Student Worksheet and invite students to respond in writing to the following questions:

Which career surprised you the most?
Which one did you think would be the most interesting?

Step 3.

Show students this video:

Qld Donation Specialist Coordinator Francesca Rourke - Brisbane Airport Corporation - Rowlands (https://youtu.be/Tq0LQtCPxzk)

Invite students to complete a Think, Pair, Share using the following questions (on the Student Worksheet):

What do you think would be the hardest part of this job?
What do you think would be the most rewarding?

Step 4.

Show students this video about heart transplant surgeons:

Day in the Life of a Heart Transplant Surgeon (https://youtu.be/ydUBCWaLlss)

Step 5.

Invite students to discuss as a class:

What do you think would be the hardest part of working as a surgeon in organ transplants?
What do you think would be the most rewarding?

Part B. Innovations in Transplantation

Step 1.

Show students this video that explains the historical progress towards organ donation (stopping at 9:18):

The Messy Path to the First Successful Organ Transplants (https://youtu.be/rkfRU4MDsX8) (up to 9:18)

While they are watching, ask students to write down the key technologies/discoveries that made organ donation more viable.

Suggested answers:

Anesthesia
Antiseptic surgery
Xenografts
Ongoing oxygenated blood supply
Immunosuppression
Histological compatibility
Cold storage chains.

Step 2.

Ask students to read about ONE of these proposed innovations for improving organ transplantation success rates. You may wish to allocate students a proposal so that not all groups read about the same one.

Xenotransplantation (using organs and tissues from animals)
Artificial organs
Hypothermic ex-vivo perfusion (keeping organs alive outside the body)
Using lower-quality organs (especially kidneys)
Organ transport devices
Organ incubation systems
Drone transportation
10p statins

Students can refer to the Innovations In Transplantation Factsheet or conduct some brief research online.

Step 3.

Ask students to research in more detail what this innovation would entail. They should make notes on the following.

What is the suggested innovation?
What problem or obstacle does it overcome?
What are the pros/cons?
How does it work?
How soon will it be ready?
Do you have any ideas for improvements to the idea?

Part C. Presentations

Step 1.

Students can work in pairs to turn their notes into a Google Slide or presentation. They should include images that help their peers to understand the innovation.

Step 2.

Either ask students to present their work to another pair, or have all students present to the class.

Step 3.

Have students write notes on their peers’ presentations:

What did you learn from the presentation?
Which innovation do you find more exciting - the one you researched or the one/s your peer/s researched?
What careers or jobs do you think would be involved in bringing that innovation to fruition?

Reflection

Invite students to reflect independently on the following questions:

What are your thoughts on the history of transplantation?
What are your thoughts about the future of transplantation?
What surprised or impressed you about the careers/jobs you learned about in this lesson?
Would you be interested in working in this field? Why/why not?

Optional

They might like to register their intention to be a donor and/or talk to their family about what they have learned about organ and tissue donation.

Differentiated Learning

Extension

Students could include academic papers in their research.
Students could choose to create a video about their technological innovation.
Students could compare and contrast two innovations that seek to solve the same issue and evaluate which they believe is more exciting.
Students might prefer to create their own invention for improving organ and tissue transplants, rather than researching existing innovations.

Provisions for Learning Support

Instead of undertaking research, students could be allocated one of the below articles or videos to summarise:
- 'No signs of rejection': Pig heart transplant patient making strides 5 weeks after surgery (https://a.msn.com/01/en-us/AATUfeU?ocid=winp-se)
- New technology kept a donated heart healthy for seven hours and transformed Andrew's life | ABC News (https://youtu.be/pmU11meISyA)
- Innovative coating for blood vessels reduces rejection of transplanted organs (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210809112837.htm)
- How to 3D print human tissue - Taneka Jones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHbn7wLN_3k)
Students might prefer to create their own invention for improving organ and tissue transplants, rather than researching existing innovations.

Teacher reflection

Take this opportunity to reflect on your own teaching:

What did you learn about your teaching practice today?
What worked well?
What didn't work so well?
What would you share?
Where to next?
How are you going to get there?

DonateLife - The Future Of Transplantation

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