Merit Winner: TMA Excellence in Science Teaching Awards
Rajee Thyagarajan
Northside Health Careers High School
San Antonio,Texas
History and Heritage of Pharmacology
Lesson Plan
Lesson Overview and Overall Objectives
Four class periods will be spent in exploring the
historical development of medicinal products, starting from crude
extracts from plant sources used by different cultures and ethnic
populations. Students in 12
th
grade who have previously taken biology, chemistry & physics
courses have the background knowledge to understand the concepts in
this lesson. Students will research various sources to obtain the
information and critically analyze the relevance to specific modern
medicines which were discovered by studying natural remedies used
by ethnic groups for specific ailments. Students will be able to
gain an appreciation for the innumerable species of plants in the
rain forests and acknowledge the wisdom in preserving and
protecting the rain forests as treasure houses of valuable
medicinal products.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson the students will be able to:
- Use the library to research and gather information on the
traditions and practices of specific ancient cultures and /or
ethnic groups of people who used plants and other natural
products as remedies or cures for specific ailments.
- Explain the work ethnobotanists and natural products chemists
do in identifying and describing the ingredients that are found
in the plants.
- State the botanical name of those plants and obtain an
illustration or picture of the plant and describe the habitat and
the environment in which they grow.
- State the ailment or condition for which the plant was used
by earlier cultural groups.
- Describe the part of the plant that is used along with the
methods used by the ancient cultures for preparing and using the
remedy.
- Describe the active ingredient in the remedy as discovered by
ethnobotanists and natural products chemists.
- Describe the steps used in collecting specimens and
extracting the active compound.
- State the historical development of purifying methods such as
chromatography, which aided in the discovery of active principles
from natural products.
- State the names of some modern medicines which were developed
after studying the remedies used by some ancient people.
- Explain the role of synthetic organic chemists in making the
pure form of the medicine which has the same medicinal properties
as the ancient remedies.
- Write the chemical structure of the medicinal compound and
describe the specific part of the molecular structure that is
associated with its medicinal activity.
Materials Used
-
National Geographic
Magazine
, Sept. 1974 for photos of plants and their use.
- Video tape: "Power of Plants" on medicinal plants from the
rain forests, descriptive comments by ethnobotanists and natural
products chemists on the collection of plants and the various
steps in obtaining the active principle.
- Books, scientific journals and other sources of information
through the Internet.
- Poster boards and other materials for students to prepare a
poster on one specific plant.
- Computers with Internet connection.
- Molecular models and educational videos on molecular
structure-activity relationships.
Method of Implementation
Students are presented with an overview by engaging in a
discussion of natural remedies that they already have knowledge of.
This results in a very high
level of student involvement
.
Several students who had different cultural backgrounds can
share personal experiences when some elderly family member used
remedies from natural sources. This can help in promoting
ethnic pride and self-esteem
.
The students see a video tape on rain forests in South America.
The video shows the natives being treated by the 'shaman'. It also
showed the interaction between some visiting scientists from the
U.S. and the Shaman who points out the specific plants he used. The
various steps involved in the collection and transportation of the
plants and their analysis is shown. Students are quite fascinated
by this video. This sets the stage for
their individual curiosity
to find more information on the topic.
The content of the video gives a good description of the
different scientists involved in the project and what they actually
do. This is good
introduction to different scientific careers
.
The students listen to a lecture wherein examples of common
medicines, which originally came from plants, are discussed.
Students are quite surprised
to know that natural aspirin came from willow bark or curare, the
arrow poison helped us to develop muscle relaxants.
Students are encouraged to research and find more information
from the library and through the Internet. Students are required to
choose a plant and a modern day medicine associated with that
plant. Individualized activity results in students exercising their
choices and this results in
internal motivation
.
Students are also introduced to basic nomenclature and
description of the structure of an organic compound using textbooks
and models.
Evaluation
Students prepare posters and write a research paper on the plant
and the medicine they chose. The poster is presented by each
student in class and then displayed for the benefit of other
students in the school. This results in
the pride of sharing their work for all to see!
The poster is evaluated on the basis of a rubric with the
following criteria:
- Name of the ancient culture or ethnic group and their
geographic location.
- Name of the ailment/cure and method of preparation and use as
described by the natives.
- Botanical name of the plant and illustration or photograph
showing details of the part that is used.
- Name of the modern day medicine based on that ancient
knowledge.
- The molecular structure and the description of the active
part of the molecule.
- Bibliography.
- Overall organization of contents and appearance of the
poster.
Resources and references used by teacher to prepare for class
discussion and lecture:
-
Great Moments in Pharmacy: A History of Pharmacy in
Pictures
by George A. Bender
-
Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants
by Cracker E. Lyle
-
Green Medicine: A Search for Plants that Heal
by Margaret Kreig
- TIPS: Trends in Pharmacological Sciences: Is there a Place
for Ethnobotany?
- NOVA, video on Rain forests and the medicinal plants
-
National Geographic Magazine
, "Natural Sources for Medicine," Sept. 1974
Return to
TMA Excellence in Science Teaching
Awards - Home page