‘Studying Diseases ’ WILF: I can explain what people thought caused diseases before microbes were discovered. Starter: Write a list of as many diseases or illnesses as you can think of.
What is a microbe? A microbe or micro-organism is an organism that you need a microscope to see. What is an organism? Do you remember the 7 life processes - Movement - Reproduction - Sensitivity - Growth - Respiration - Excretion - Nutrition
Discovering Disease Timeline Pre-historic times Cracking the skull to let the demons out that caused disease was a common practice. Leeches were first used to get rid of ‘bad blood’ BC The Chinese stuffed powdered small pox scabs up the noses of children to make them immune to it. They had no idea how it worked.
1666 The Great Plague kills over 100,000 people in Britain alone. People think that it is spread because of bad or dirty air so carry around posies of flowers to keep the air around them smelling sweet. This picture shows how the doctors tried to protect themselves. They wore long leather gowns, hoods and gloves. The 'beak' was stuffed with herbs and the eyes were made of glass.
1683 Antony van Leeuwenhoek made the first microscope and saw microbes. He doesn’t know what they are and that they can cause disease.
1796 Edward Jenner uses the first vaccination. He uses cowpox to prevent smallpox (a disease which killed millions of people worldwide every year).
ew&feature=related 1854 Florence Nightingale saves the lives of thousands of injured soldiers by insisting on clean wards and instruments in army hospitals.
1865 Joseph Lister realises that invisible living things get into wounds to make people sick and die. He uses carbolic acid to clean up wounds – the first antiseptic.
In pairs read the sheet and then answer the following questions 1. When did people realise that microbes caused disease? 2. What different things did they think caused disease before this? 3. What do you think was the most important discovery? Give reasons for your choice.
3 types of Microbes VirusesBacteriaFungi