Teaching overview
Learning points
- Scientists have developed safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19, that they hope will help end the pandemic.
- Vaccines work by creating immunity. People who take a vaccine are less likely to become ill, which helps prevent the virus spreading.
- Billions of vaccine doses need to be produced in order to vaccinate everyone on the planet. Lots of large freezers will be needed to store the vaccines.
Curriculum keywords
- Covid-19
- Medicine
- STEM
- Biology
Video viewing guide
This graphic organiser supports your students to capture their thoughts and questions as they watch the news update.
Spark a discussion
Covid-19
- How do scientists test to see if a vaccine is effective?
- Why do you think scientists used so many volunteers to test the vaccines?
- How do scientists make sure that vaccines are safe to use?
How Vaccines Work
- How does a vaccine stop you from catching a disease?
- What other diseases have vaccines been developed for?
- Have you ever had a vaccine? Can you remember what it was for?
End to the Pandemic
- What challenges need to be overcome to vaccinate people around the world?
- What groups of people do you think will be the first to receive a vaccine?
- What would you like to do as soon as the pandemic is finished?
Classroom resources
Use these resources to get the most out of the news update and engage your class in topical science!
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Video viewing guide
This graphic organiser supports your students to capture their thoughts and questions as they watch the news update.
Make your own science news update
This simple guide helps your students to create their very own science news updates.
Language and literacy activities
This guide gives you ideas for how the news update can be used to support language and literacy activities.
Discover more about the topics covered in this week's News update