BIO 304 . WEEK 7 OF 8 . DISCUSSION

A barrier breached

Tell the story of a time an immune, respiratory, or digestive barrier failed.

Initial post due Friday. Replies due Sunday. Substantive replies build on or respectfully challenge a classmate's thinking.

Deadlines and expectations

Three dates to put on your calendar.

Prompt opens

Wed, Jul 22

Wednesday, 12:00 AM

Initial post due

Fri, Jul 24

Friday, 11:59 PM

Replies due

Sun, Jul 26

Sunday, 11:59 PM

Your prompt

What to write about.

This week we covered the lymphatic and immune systems, the respiratory system, and the digestive system. Each is a barrier between your body and the outside world.

Pick one situation where one of these barriers was breached — illness, infection, allergy, food poisoning, asthma attack, choking incident, anything where the line between "outside" and "inside" got crossed.

In your initial post (200-300 words):

  1. Describe the situation briefly.
  2. Identify the barrier that failed (anatomically and at the tissue level).
  3. Trace the body's response: what innate defenses fired first? Did the adaptive immune system get involved? How?
  4. What healed it, and how would you predict the body would respond to the same insult next time?
Replies

What makes a reply substantive.

  • Substantive: at least 75 words. Goes beyond "I agree" or "nice post."
  • Builds or challenges: extend a classmate's idea with new information, OR respectfully push back with reasoning.
  • Cite or apply: reference the OpenStax section, your textbook reading, or a topic from this week's pre-work.
  • At least two replies to different classmates by Sunday.
Ready to post

Open the Canvas thread for Week 7.

Initial post due Friday by 11:59 PM. Two replies due Sunday by 11:59 PM.

Open the Canvas discussion →