Criteria D – Reflecting on the message in the story

Goal: Understanding the role of catalyst in a reaction

Role: An informed responsible citizen who makes informed conclusion after getting information from
newspaper and a YouTube video (which is a section of a movie)
Audience: General public (peers) which needs to be made aware of the knowledge of chemistry in medical
treatment
Situation: Story of Lorenzo Odone, a boy who the doctor’s have predicted will live only till his eighth
birthday, survived till the age of 30, by the utilizing the knowledge of chemistry. His parent’s unorthodox
way of treatment have brought new hope for the children born with the same medical condition has
Lorenzo.
Product: Student will evaluate the ethical aspect of a medical treatment which has medical precedent. They
will also identify the functioning of catalyst
Standard: Criterion D: Reflecting on the impact of sciences

The Story
HEADLINES: Parent’s make a catalyst which improved the life expectancy of their son.
Read the story below silently without discussing it, then write a headline that, in your opinion, captures the
most important aspect that should be remembered. Then answer the questions about it.

In May 1978, a family in the USA had an apparently normal baby. Before he was 6, Lorenzo Odone spoke
three languages fluently and preferred Italian opera to nursery rhymes. Then one evening, he complained
that he wasn’t able to hear properly. His teachers had also noticed his growing clumsiness. Eventually,
Lorenzo was diagnosed with a genetic disorder that caused the production of a single, faulty enzyme. This
enzyme should have broken down an intermediate reaction product in his cells. Instead, the substance built
up in his nervous system, eventually damaging it. The substance, a type of fatty acid, had been accumulating
in his nerve cells since the day Lorenzo was born, but only now were the symptoms becoming apparent. At
the time, doctors advised the boy’s life expectancy to be two years.

Neither of Lorenzo’s parents was a scientist, but they both immediately began to research the chemistry of
the disease at the National Institute of Health Library, close to their home in New York. They decided to
focus their attention on ‘distracting’ the enzyme that helped make the dangerous fatty acids that were
destroying Lorenzo’s nervous system. They reasoned that if this enzyme was physically ‘occupied’ doing
something else, it would not be able to catalyse the other reaction so the damaging product could not
accumulate. In biochemistry, this type of substance is called a ‘competitive inhibitor’. The use of the
competitive inhibitor meant the second, faulty enzyme would be deprived of its reactants.

Lorenzo’s parents’ growing knowledge of chemistry suggested that he needed a special diet that included a
mixture of olive and rapeseed oils. This was ‘Lorenzo’s oil’, later the title of the 1992 Hollywood movie.
His parents worked closely with the actors to tell their story which, at the time, countered the medical
understanding of the illness. An explanation of the mechanism of his treatment, as shown in the movie, can
be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiU_J8wJohU.

Lorenzo’s life continued long beyond the film, but by the time he changed his diet, his nervous system had
already been damaged forever. Children with the same disorder who supplement their diet with Lorenzo’s
oil long before their symptoms appear can now expect to live healthy lives for much longer.

Activity
ATL
Communication skills: read critically and comprehend
Now answer the following questions:
1. Describe what a catalyst does, according to this story.

2. Design
According to this story, the catalyst is Lorenzo’s oil and it was used as a diet for him and it was also
used to increase his life expectancy drastically. The doctors said he was only going to live for 2 more
years but then when he started consuming the oil, his life expectancy increased to 22 years.

a flow chart that identifies the roles of the two enzymes involved in the process that created
Lorenzo’s symptoms.
 3. Suggest how reactions being arranged in a pathway can be an advantage. How do the right enzymes
contribute to kinetics and balance?

4.
It can be an advantage because it is an chemical process in which enables organisms transform the
chemical energy stored in molecules into energy that can be used for cellular processes.

Lorenzo’s parents proposed a therapy that had no medical precedent. Evaluate whether
a) they should have experimented on their son

No, because they do not know what could possibly happen and they are also not being
supervised by others in order to ensure safety in the experiment. If they do it, they could have
caused an early death but this time they had studied more on the disease and were able to
come up with a catalyst which increased the life expectancy of their son.

b) anyone can be a scientist.

Yes, anyone can be a scientist with the help of research and also education. It all depends on
the person’s patience and reactions towards different things.

5.
Share your original headline with a peer and reflect on it. Will you change it, based on your discussion?
Why? Mention here your new headline and the reflection/ discussion which prompted you to modify
your heading.

6. How does its message differ from what you would have said initially?

Adapted From:
Termaat, A., & Talbot, C. (2018 2017). MYP by concepts 4 and 5 Chemistry. Hodder Education. Retrieved 02 11, 2020
CRITERION D: REFLECTING ON THE IMPACTS OF SCIENCE
Maximum: 8
You should be able to:
i. explain the ways in which science is applied and used to address a specific problem or issue
ii. Discuss and evaluate the various implications of using science and its application to solve a
specific problem or issue.
iii. apply scientific language effectively
iv. Document the work of others and sources of information used.

Your work will be assessed using the following Rubrics: -

Achievemen Level descriptor
t level
0 The student does not reach a standard identified by any of the descriptors below.

1-2 The student is able to:

i. outline the ways in which science is used to address a specific problem or issue

ii. outline the implications of using science to solve a specific problem or issue, interacting
with a factor

iii. apply scientific language to communicate understanding but does so with limited success

iv. Document sources, with limited success.

3-4 The student is able to:

i. summarize the ways in which science is applied and used to address a specific problem or
issue

ii. describe the implications of using science and its application to solve a specific problem
or issue, interacting with a factor

iii. sometimes apply scientific language to communicate understanding

 iv. Sometimes document sources correctly.

5-6 The student is able to:

i. describe the ways in which science is applied and used to address a specific problem or
issue

ii. discuss the implications of using science and its application to solve a specific problem or
issue, interacting with a factor

iii. usually apply scientific language to communicate understanding clearly and precisely

iv. Usually document sources correctly.

7-8 The student is able to:

i. explain the ways in which science is applied and used to address a specific problem or
issue

ii. discuss and evaluate the implications of using science and its application to solve a
specific problem or issue, interacting with a factor

iii. consistently apply scientific language to communicate understanding clearly and

precisely

iv. Document sources completely.

Command terms
 Apply: Use knowledge and understanding in response to a given situation or real circumstances
 Describe: Give a detailed account or picture of a situation, event, pattern or process
 Discuss: Offer a considered and balanced review that includes a range of arguments, factors or
hypotheses. Opinions or conclusions should be presented clearly and supported by appropriate
evidence
 Document: Credit sources of information used by referencing (or citing) following `one recognized
referencing system. References should be included in the text and also at the end of the piece of
work in a reference list or bibliography
  Evaluate: Assess the implications and limitations; to make judgments about the ideas, works,
solutions or methods in relation to selected criteria
 Explain: Give a detailed account.
 Outline: Give a brief account
 Summarize: Abstract a general theme or major point(s)

Reflecting on the impacts of science factors

 Cultural: Patterns of knowledge, behavior, beliefs, shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that
characterize groups of people
 Economical: Production, distribution, and use of income, wealth, and commodities
 Environmental: Circumstances, objects, or conditions by which one is surrounded
 Ethical: Process of rational inquiry to decide on issues as right or wrong, as applied to the people
and their actions. Rules are derived from the society – your workplace, home etc.
 Moral: Principles of right or wrong behavior derived from one’s own understanding
 Political: Relates to government or public affairs
 Social: Interactions between groups of people involving issues such as welfare, safety, rights, justice
or class