Report from a pilot centre: Esher College

Measuring blood pressure and breeding Reebops

Topic 1 'Lifestyle, health and risk'
Students used the sphygmomanometer to measure each other's blood pressure. The interactive tutorial in explains the principal of how the sphyg. works. The tutorial uses animation and sound to demonstrate how the turbulent sounds, which are produced when the inflated band constricts the arteries, allow a reading of pressure to be taken.

Topic 2 'Genes and health'
Students are breeding Reebops, using cardboard chromosomes labelled with the two parents' alleles. Reebops are constructed using the 'random' combination of chromosomes from each parent. The alleles present are interpreted using a table showing which characteristics they represent e.g. two humps may be dominant and one hump recessive. The activity is to demonstrate variation in offspring as a result of sexual reproduction.