The War of the 21st Century: The Cell Cycle, Cancer and Clinical Trials

This 118-page curriculum guide, authored by Jennifer Broo and Jessica Mahoney and published by the University of Florida, provides educators with a curriculum unit that teaches high school students about clinical trials for developing anti-cancer drugs. Throughout nine lessons, students learn about the mechanisms of cancers and how cancers are the result of mutations in the cell cycle. Students are intended to complete this unit with an understanding of how translational medicine involves developing less invasive treatments for cancer patients through clinical trials.

The curriculum is divided into nine lessons, which include but are not limited to:

• Keeping It All in Check: The Life of a Cell in a Cell Cycle
• Losing Control: The Cell Cycle and Cancer
• Going to War: Clinical Trials
• Fighting the Battles: Conducting a Clinical Assay
• Future Battles in the War on Cancer

Each lesson contains classroom resources, including handouts, discussion guides, and worksheets. This curriculum guide also contains lesson summaries, a lesson sequencing guide, a glossary of terms, and information about how the curriculum meets Florida's Sunshine State Standards for science education.