Immune System Activity: 8 Hands-On Stations for Teaching White Blood Cells, Antibodies, and How the Body Fights Off Disease (TEKS 7.13A)

Chris Kesler · 8 min read

Ask a 7th grader who's been out sick for a week what was happening inside their body. Most of them will say "I had a fever" or "my body was tired." Tell them their white blood cells were literally hunting and eating the virus that made them sick. Tell them their immune system released hormones from their adrenal gland to fight the infection, raised their temperature on purpose to slow the virus down, and remembered every single invader so it could destroy them faster the next time. Now they're sitting up straight.

The Immune System is the body's defense network, but kids don't see it that way. They see fever, runny nose, and missed school. They've heard "germs" since kindergarten but most can't tell you what a white blood cell does, what an antibody is, or why a vaccine works. They've heard "get more sleep" their whole lives without anyone explaining that sleep is when the immune system rebuilds itself.

The Immune System Functions Station Lab for TEKS 7.13A closes that gap in one to two class periods. Kids build four physical models showing how the body fights germs (skin barrier, white blood cells, antibodies, and vaccines), study a graph linking sleep duration to colds, study a second graph showing how chronic stress changes infection rates, and learn five parts of the immune system: lymph, hormones, white blood cells, adrenal gland, skin, and antibodies. By the end, they can explain why a fever is helpful, what a vaccine actually does to the body, and three things they can do tonight to make their immune system stronger tomorrow.

⏱ 1–2 class periods 📓 7th Grade Science 🧪 TEKS 7.13A 🎯 Built-in differentiation 💻 Print or Digital

8 hands-on stations for teaching the immune system

A station lab is a student-led activity where small groups rotate through 8 stations (plus a 9th challenge station for early finishers) at their own pace during one to two class periods. You become a facilitator instead of a lecturer. You walk around, spot-check the clay models, and break misconceptions while kids work through the rotation.

The Immune System Functions Station Lab has four input stations (where students take in new info on white blood cells, antibodies, vaccines, and how sleep and stress affect the body's defenses) and four output stations (where they show what they learned). Here's what's at each one.

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4 input stations: how students learn the immune system

🎬 Watch It! —

A short YouTube video walks students through what the immune system is and how it protects the body. Three questions follow: what is your body's immune system, what is the purpose of the immune system, and what could happen to our bodies without our immune system. Visual learners come alive at this station before they ever pick up a pom-pom or a piece of clay.

📖 Read It! —

A one-page passage called "Fighting a War" introduces the immune system as the body's defense, walks through how white blood cells attack invaders, how fever and inflammation work as defense responses, and how stress hormones from the adrenal gland affect the system. Three multiple-choice questions follow plus five vocabulary words to define: adrenal glands, hormones, immune system, lymph, white blood cells. Comes in two reading levels (Dependent and Modified) plus a Spanish version.

🔬 Explore It! —

This is the heart of the lab. Students build four physical models showing the body's defenses. Model 1 (skin barrier): use clay to create a barrier representing the skin and place small beads (germs) on the outside, then explain how the skin stops germs from entering. Model 2 (white blood cells): use colored clay for white blood cells and pom-poms for germs, then show how white blood cells surround and "eat" the germs. Model 3 (antibodies): use pipe cleaners to represent antibodies and attach them to pom-pom germs to mark them for destruction. Model 4 (vaccines): use different-colored clay to show how a vaccine teaches the white blood cells to recognize and fight a specific germ. Students sketch each model and explain the role.

💻 Research It! —

Students examine 10 reference cards: a Jobs of the Immune System wheel-chart (thymus, hormones, antibodies, white blood cells, bone marrow, spleen, lymphatic system, complement system), a sleep-vs-colds bar graph showing the percentage of people who catch a cold based on hours of sleep (7+, 6-7, 5-6, less than 5), a stress-vs-colds bar graph comparing chronic vs nonchronic stress over 1, 1-3, and 3-6 months, and a How To Boost Your Immune System reference card with 10 practical tips (sleep, meditation, fruits and vegetables, hand washing, staying calm, water, washing produce, avoiding alcohol/cigarettes, vitamins, daily exercise). Five questions check whether they can describe two jobs of the immune system, use the sleep graph to predict a 5-hour-sleep cold risk, explain the relationship between chronic stress and colds with evidence, and list three ways to boost their immune system.

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4 output stations: how students show what they learned

📋 Organize It! —

A two-column card sort. Kids match each part of the immune system (lymph, hormones, white blood cells, adrenal gland, skin, antibodies) with its function. "Attack germs and pathogens in the blood" → white blood cells. "Fight germs by binding or hooking on to them" → antibodies. "Act as a barrier to protect the body from germs and bacteria" → skin. Easy to spot-check at a glance.

🎨 Illustrate It! —

Students draw a sketch or cartoon showing how to boost the immune system: sleeping, exercising, eating fruits and vegetables, yoga, and laughter. They illustrate how living healthily strengthens the body's defenses. Even kids who say "I can't draw" surprise themselves here. The cartoon turns the Research It! data on sleep and stress into something they can actually act on tonight.

✍️ Write It! —

Three open-ended questions: pick five parts of the immune system and explain the function of each part, how does playing sports keep a person's immune system strong and healthy, and explain how antibodies help in fighting infections. The first question is the killer. It forces kids to chain together five different components from the Read It! reading and the Research It! cards into one cohesive answer.

📝 Assess It! —

Three multiple-choice questions plus a fill-in-the-paragraph that uses all five Read It! vocabulary words (adrenal glands, hormones, immune system, lymph, white blood cells). The paragraph reads: "The ___ is a complex network of organs, tissues, and cells that work together to protect the body from harmful pathogens. One of the key components of the immune system is the ___, which helps in fighting off infections..." If you're grading the lab, this is the easiest station to grade.

Bonus Challenge It! station for early finishers

🏆 Challenge It! —

Four optional extensions: design a fun weekly exercise plan and lead the class in a mini-workout, create a war-themed poster comparing the immune system to fighting a war, research and teach a yoga pose that helps relax the body and boost the immune system, or write a short funny story or comic strip showing how laughter helps reduce stress and boost the immune system. Requires teacher approval before they start.

How this fits into a complete immune system unit

This Station Lab is the Explore day of our full Immune System Functions Complete 5E Lesson for TEKS 7.13A. The complete two-week unit follows the 5E method of instruction and includes an Engage hook, the Immune System Station Lab for Explore, PowerPoint slides and interactive notebook pages for Explain, student choice projects to Elaborate, and an Evaluate assessment.

Most teachers grab the full 5E because the Station Lab lands hardest with the days around it. But if you just need a strong hands-on day on the immune system, the Station Lab on its own does the job.

Two options

Full 5E Lesson $13.20 Get the 5E Lesson

Just the Station Lab $7.20 Get the Station Lab

Materials needed to teach the immune system

Materials beyond what's in the download:

Modeling clay or play-dough in 2 or 3 colors — about a fist-sized chunk per group. Used in 3 of the 4 Explore It! models.
Pom-poms in mixed colors (small) — about 15 per group rotation. Represent germs.
Small beads — about 10 per group. Represent germs on the outside of the skin barrier model.
Pipe cleaners — about 6 per group. Represent antibodies binding to germs.
Index cards for the Challenge It! comic-strip and exercise-plan extensions.
Colored pencils or markers for the Illustrate It! station cartoon.
Pencils and the printed answer sheets (included)
A device with internet for the Watch It! station

Standard covered: Texas TEKS 7.13A —

Investigate and explain the functions of the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary, immune, integumentary, nervous, muscular, skeletal, reproductive, and endocrine systems. Supporting Standard.

See the full standard breakdown →

Grade level: 7th grade life science

Time: One to two class periods (45–110 minutes total). Plan for two periods the first time you run a station lab.

Common student misconceptions this lab fixes

"A fever is a bad thing the body does to itself."
Kids treat fever as a sickness symptom they need to make go away. The Read It! passage corrects this directly: "Fever releases white blood cells to stop certain organisms from reproducing." The body raises its temperature on purpose because most viruses and bacteria don't reproduce as well at higher temperatures. The Research It! cards reinforce that fever, inflammation, and even pain are part of the defense, not the disease itself. The Explore It! white-blood-cell model (clay attacking pom-poms) gives kids a visual of what's happening at the higher temperature: more white blood cells released, more germs being eaten, faster recovery.
"If you've never been sick, you have a strong immune system."
Kids equate "healthy" with "never gets sick." The Read It! passage and the Research It! sleep and stress graphs show that the immune system is being constantly tested and that lifestyle (sleep, stress, exercise, food) directly changes how well it functions. The sleep-vs-colds graph is striking: a kid getting less than 5 hours of sleep is roughly twice as likely to catch a cold as one getting 7+ hours. The Illustrate It! cartoon (sleep, exercise, fruits and vegetables, yoga, laughter) ties the science to actions kids can take tonight. The lesson lands as: a strong immune system isn't an accident, it's a result.
"Vaccines give you the disease so you build immunity."
Kids hear "the vaccine has a small amount of the virus in it" and conclude vaccines make you sick on purpose. The Explore It! vaccine model corrects this with a physical demonstration: a vaccine introduces a harmless piece of the pathogen, the white blood cells learn to recognize it, and the body builds antibodies without getting the actual disease. So when the real virus shows up later, the immune system already knows what to do. The Read It! passage and the Research It! card on the Jobs of the Immune System back this up: "Your immune system remembers each invader so if they enter your body again, it can quickly get rid of them." Memory is the whole point.

What you get with this immune system activity

📷 Inside-the-product — add screenshot of Read It passage or sample answer sheet

When you buy the Station Lab, you get a single download with everything you need:

Print version at two reading levels (Dependent for on-grade, Modified for additional support) plus a Spanish Read It! passage
Digital version as PowerPoint files (works in Google Slides too) at both levels — for 1:1 classrooms or Google Classroom
Teacher Directions and Answer Key for both versions, all keys included
Station task cards ready to print, laminate, and drop in baskets at each station
Reference cards for the Research It! station (Jobs of the Immune System wheel chart, sleep-vs-colds bar graph, stress-vs-colds bar graph, How To Boost Your Immune System reference card with 10 tips)
Explore It! activity cards for the four physical models (skin barrier, white blood cells, antibodies, vaccines)
Sort cards for the Organize It! station (12 cards matching each immune-system part to its function)
Student answer sheets for each level

No login required. Download once, use forever. Reprint as many times as you want.

Tips for teaching the immune system in your 7th grade classroom

Two things make this lab go smoother the first time:

1. Pre-portion clay and pom-poms in zip baggies, one bag per group.

If kids have to dig through a giant tub of clay and chase loose pom-poms across the floor, you lose 6 minutes per group at the Explore It! station. Sunday-night prep: divide a fist-sized lump of clay into baggies (2-3 colors per bag), drop in 15 pom-poms, 10 beads, and 6 pipe cleaners. Each group gets one bag at the start of Explore It! and returns the materials when they rotate. Less mess, more learning.

2. Have kids track their actual sleep on a sticky note before they hit the Research It! station.

At the start of class, give every kid a sticky note and tell them to write the average number of hours they slept the past three nights. Stick it on their answer sheet. When they hit the Research It! sleep-vs-colds graph, ask them to find their average on the x-axis and predict their cold risk. The data hits harder when it's their data. It also sets up the Illustrate It! cartoon and the Write It! question on sports and immune health.

Get this immune system activity

Immune System Functions Station Lab for 7th grade life science — TEKS 7.13A

Buy the Station Lab — $7.20

Or if you want the full two-week experience with the Engage hook, Explain day, Elaborate extension, and Evaluate assessment all included:

Buy the full 5E Complete Lesson — $13.20

(Station Lab is included)

Frequently asked questions

What does TEKS 7.13A cover?

Texas TEKS 7.13A asks 7th grade students to investigate and explain the functions of all the major body systems, including the immune system. By the end, students should be able to describe how the immune system protects the body from disease, name the major components (white blood cells, antibodies, lymph, skin barrier), and explain how lifestyle factors like sleep and stress affect immune function. This Station Lab focuses specifically on the immune system. The other body systems (circulatory, respiratory, digestive, urinary, integumentary, nervous, muscular, skeletal, reproductive, endocrine) each have their own dedicated Station Lab.

What's the difference between white blood cells and antibodies?

White blood cells are the body's main defenders. They circulate in the blood and lymph, hunting down germs and physically engulfing or destroying them. Antibodies are tiny Y-shaped proteins that bind to specific germs to mark them as targets. The white blood cells then come along and finish the job. Think of antibodies as spotters and white blood cells as soldiers. The Explore It! models make this distinction physical: pom-poms (germs) get "eaten" by clay (white blood cells) in one model, and pipe cleaners (antibodies) latch onto the same pom-poms to mark them in another model. Working together, they're how the body identifies and destroys invaders.

How long does this immune system activity take?

One to two class periods (45 to 110 minutes total). The Explore It! station has four separate models to build, which is the longest part. Plan for two periods the first time you run a station lab. Once your class has the routine down, most groups can finish all 8 stations in one period.

Do I need to provide my own materials?

Modeling clay (2-3 colors), small pom-poms, small beads, pipe cleaners, index cards, and colored pencils. Total cost for a class of 30: under $15 if you don't already have these supplies. The Watch It! station also needs a device with internet.

Can I use this in a 1:1 digital classroom?

Yes. The full digital version (PowerPoint or Google Slides) works in 1:1 classrooms and Google Classroom. The four Explore It! models can be replaced with drag-and-drop slide activities, or you can keep the Explore It! station as the one physical center kids rotate through.