Surgery
Surgery - the transplant timeline
Educational objective
Students will gain an understanding of the development of transplant surgery.
Classroom activity
By researching transplants on the Brought to Life website students should gain a sense of the chronology of events in the development of transplants.
Ask students to create their own timeline of the key events in the development of transplants. This timeline should contain images and information based on what the students have researched, including details of each event with the people involved and some notes about the development of transplants.
Extension activity
You could try the same activity charting the development of pain relief, including anaesthetics and antiseptics.
Curriculum links
Surgery - key figures from medical history
Educational objective
Students will gain an understanding of the work of key figures from the history of medicine.
Classroom activity - Time Travel Hospital
Ask students to research five historical figures who are especially relevant to the Surgery theme featured on the Brought to Life website. You could choose these yourself, to focus on a specific area or era, or ask your students to pick their favourite people.
Then ask students to imagine that they are the administrator in charge of the Time Travel Hospital. They are able to travel anywhere in time and space to pick up figures from history and bring them back to life, so that they can carry on doing good work.
Unfortunately, time travel does not come cheap and funds are running low. Students are presented with a waiting room containing their five key figures from medical history but can choose only one of them to bring back to life. Ask them to make a case for the person they would choose.
Extension activity
Ask ten individuals or groups to each make a case for a chosen historical figure to a jury made up of the rest of the class. The jury will vote on who they feel most deserves to be chosen.