Causal links

Activities

Ideas	Activities
d	Clinical trials of new medicines
b, d	Evaluating an alternative medicine
b	Testing the placebo effect
b, d, e	Risks of radon

1. Clinical trials of new medicines

  (estimated time: 45 minutes)

Why do researchers need to randomise the treatment and control groups when they are testing a new treatment? Can't they just give the treatment and see if people get better? This activity deals with the above questions, and includes a data handling activity on how scientists find out whether a treatment really works.

Teacher Notes and Students Sheets (, 43 KB)

2. Evaluating an alternative medicine

  (estimated time: 30 minutes)

Questions based on clinical trials carried out by researchers to test the effectiveness and the side effects of St.John's wort, as a herbal remedy for depression.

Teacher Notes and Student Sheets (, 38 KB)

3. Testing the placebo effect

The effectiveness of many CAM therapies is often ascribed by sceptics to the 'placebo effect'. In this activity students carry out a short experiment on their peers into the placebo effect.

Teacher Notes and Student Sheets (, 10 KB)

4. Risks of Radon

  (estimated time: 45 minutes)

This activity is similar to the discussion in the textbook on pages 181-183 but includes more studies and more questions on decision making.

Teacher Notes and Student Sheets (, 24 KB)