Students are introduced to the unit challenge: To develop a painless means of identifying cancerous tumors. Solving the challenge depends on an understanding of the properties of stress and strain. After learning the challenge question, students generate ideas and consider the knowledge required to solve the challenge. Then they read an expert's opinion on ultrasound imaging and the potentials for detecting cancerous tumors. This interview helps to direct student research and learning towards finding a solution.

Students paticipate in a hands-on lesson discovering how cancer is caused by mutations that accumulate over time.

Students are given a problem about a relatively new treatment for cancer, Gleevec, and asked to apply and synthesize what they have learned about cell signaling and the eukaryotic cell cycle to explain why this targeted treatment works to prevent cell division with fewer side effects than traditional chemotherapeutic agents.

Student teams learn about engineering design of green fluorescent proteins (GFPs) and their use in medical research, including stem cell research. They simulate the use of GFPs by adding fluorescent dye to water and letting a flower or plant to transport the dye throughout its structure. Students apply their knowledge of GFPs to engineering applications in the medical, environmental and space exploration fields. Due to the fluorescing nature of the dye, plant life of any color, light or dark, can be used unlike dyes that can only be seen in visible light.

During this activity, students will be introduced to the concepts of the challenge. They will generate ideas for solving the grand challenge first independently, then in small groups. Finally, as a class, students will compile their ideas with a visual as a learning supplement.

Learn about how cancer cells spread or metastasize throughout the body in this example animation video [1:28] of melanoma spreading.

Learn about melanoma or skin cancer, how it develops and spreads, and what is the common treatment, in this Mayo Clinic animated video. (1 min, 55 sec)

The Med Help Support Communities provides questions and answers about most medical conditions as well as allowing you to type in a question and get a reply from a doctor.

Online presentations on more than 150 health topics, diseases, and conditions, from acne to viruses. Each plays as a slide presentation, with sound, that you can control or set to autoplay. Time varies from 5-20 minutes. Available in both Spanish and English.

Animations of the different phases of cancer, make this a great resource for understanding the development of this disease.

Students learn about the biomedical use of nanoparticles in the detection and treatment of cancer, including the use of quantum dots and lasers that heat-activate nanoparticles. They also learn about electrophoresis a laboratory procedure that uses an electric field to move tiny particles through a channel in order to separate them by size. They complete an online virtual mini-lab, with accompanying worksheet, to better understand gel electrophoresis. This prepares them for the associated activity to write draft research proposals to use nanoparticles to protect against, detect or treat skin cancer.

This site provides links to articles that deal specifically with many different causes of cancer, such as genetic, hormonal, or from a chemical that is inhaled or eaten.

This site describes the symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and provides links to further information on head and neck cancer.

The National Cancer Institute's Leukemia homepage allows you to click on links to various topics, including treatment, prevention, literature, statistics, and research.

Learn about treatment options associated with ovarian germ cell tumors. This website, intended for patients, provides detailed information on the stages of this cancer and the methods used to fight it.

Intended for patients with ovarian tumors with "low malignant potential," this website discusses stages and treatment options associated with this medical condition. Click on one of the hyperlinked topics at the top of the webpage to be taken to specific information.

This lesson culminates the unit with the Go Public phase of the legacy cycle. In the associated activity, students depict a tumor amidst healthy body tissue using a Microsoft Excel® graph. In addition, students design a brochure for both patients and doctors advertising a new form of painless yet reliable breast cancer detection. Together, the in-class activity and the take-home assignment function as an assessment of what students have learned throughout the unit.

Students are introduced to the physical concept of the colors of rainbows as light energy in the form of waves with distinct wavelengths, but in a different manner than traditional kaleidoscopes. Looking at different quantum dot solutions, they make observations and measurements, and graph their data. They come to understand how nanoparticles interact with absorbing photons to produce colors. They learn the dependence of particle size and color wavelength and learn about real-world applications for using these colorful liquids.

Through this concluding lesson and its associated activity, students experience one valuable and often overlooked skill of successful scientists and engineers communicating your work and ideas. They explore the importance of scientific communication, including the basic, essential elements of communicating new information to the public and pitfalls to avoid. In the associated activity, student groups create posters depicting their solutions to the unit's challenge question accurate, efficient methods for detecting cancer-causing genes using optical biosensors which includes providing a specific example with relevant equations. Students are also individually assessed on their understanding of refraction via a short quiz. This lesson and its associated activity conclude the unit and serve as the culminating Go Public phase of the Legacy Cycle, providing unit review and summative assessment.