Tag: DP Core

Using Cells now and in 1950s

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When thinking about how different it would be nowadays if what happened with the HeLa cells happened in the present day, there would be a lot of differences to the reactions of people when they find out. I feel like there would be a stronger reaction to finding out someone’s cells were taken without their permission. People’s rights and ethical decisions are thought of more. This would have also been a big scandal type of situation for the hospital which would lead to more press and media being involved.

If I was in the 1950s and I found out about this, I don’t think I would have reacted the same as I would have been less knowledgeable about people’s rights and other important information about the ethics involved in medical procedures. This would be due to a lack of resources and a different method of research than we have in the present day. Also the story of the cells being took from someone without their permission wouldn’t of traveled far even if people knew about it and discussed it, as the media wasn’t as developed in fast communication as it is now.

This would definitely be a topic able to be discussed in TOK as it links with Ethics and can be discussed in the Natural sciences AOK.

After the First Reading of Henrietta Lacks

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After reading ‘The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks’ by Rachel Skloot, I was really interested in her as a person. The idea that her cells were took from her body without her consent and then turned into the huge discovery that they were, was really interesting. It prompted me to do more research about HeLa and I found interesting things that the cells are used for like:

  • Polio vaccines
  • Different virus testing
  • Cancer research
    • Helping define cancer markings in RNA
  • Gene mapping

I think that with this book, we will be able to talk more in depth about racism, healthcare treatment, corruption in the healthcare system in the past and possibly, corruption in the justice system (the law). This book has many topics that can apply to possible IO ideas as I feel like there will be many non-literary texts to analyse like maybe more articles. Also the idea of HeLa and how her cells were taken without consent could be able to be a TOK real life situation as it looks at natural sciences and perhaps the methodology and ethics being the main concepts involved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/importance-of-hela-cells.html

https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/hela-cell.htm

Oral Presentation and Paper 2 Practice Essay

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For our oral presentation, our group looked at a prompt under the identity concept in our course. Specifically on the prompt, It could be argued that in some societies or cultures women at a disadvantage to men or even actively discriminated against. To what degree is this evident in the way women are represented in The Handmaid’s Tale. We made the points that through the change in society, the way they are represented and the perspectives of other characters, we can clearly see the discrimination women face through what Atwood has wrote.

The feedback we mainly got was to interpret the prompt better in order to show our understanding more as we didn’t do that. I also personally think I could of wrote the first point better, so that’s something I can work on for my essay.

For the essay we kept the same prompt and I used the quotes and points we made in the essay. I think I rewrote the first point better and paraphrased the prompt. I am still confused a bit on the interpretation but after the essay is handed back to us, I will double check if the interpretation is ok.

The presentation was a chance to practice skills that will be necessary in our IO that we will do in the future. The presentation skills can be applied in our DP core through our TOK presentations as well as being transferable to other subjects were presentations are necessary.

Connections to the DP Core

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The skills and content that we learn in English can be applied through some of the core aspects of the DP: CAS, TOK and EE. The ATL skills we learn are applicable to all subject areas and core areas. For example the communication skill can be applied to all three because we have to effectively say our ideas clearly and articulately. 

We can use English skills through our EE essay to communicate our ideas well, it could also be a topic we choose to research into. As well for TOK it could be a topic we choose to discuss through our presentations and our essay. The TOK and EE essay will link with the essay’s that we write in class and for our Paper 1 and 2 assessments. For CAS mainly the skills we learn can apply and link with communication, organisation and other ATLs. For CAS we also have to do more presentations style work, as well as in TOK we have presentations, these skills can be transferred with our IO.

These skills can be developed and learned through this course and through the entire 2 year journey. They can be transferred to other classes and also the DP core as well which would help us improve our work.