Prialt, a prescription pain medicine, is used to treat severe and chronic pain in humans, but is extremely toxic to fish. To understand how Prialt works, class members watch a short animated video that models how calcium channels that transmit pain signals to the brain differ in various species. 

Concepts

nerves, the central nervous system

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Discuss which animals share chemical traits with humans and debate if it is ethical to experiment on these animals

Classroom Considerations

• Assumes prior knowledge of nerves and the way the brain understands pain
• Offers streaming or downloading in MOV and WMV formats

Pros

• Provides a full transcript for the hearing impaired
• Links to related videos for further understanding

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.6.2 SL.7.2 SL.8.2 SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.6-8.4 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4