Analysis of a Warm Up on Mitosis (Warm Up 5): Sample Student Responses.
Scoring (1-4) is based on a rubric to determine patterns of student responses.
22 responses of 176 are shown. Asterisks indicate responses used in class.

QUESTION 3 = Why do you think chemotherapy drugs, which are given to fight cancer,cause a person's hair to fall out? Please read the notes on mitosis before answering the question.

1 – Student says he / she does not know how to answer the Warm Up question.

Q3 = I don't have the slightest idea. There is probably a very simple explanation for this that I am looking over.

(Note: Very few students, 6 out of 176, answered this way. I think just about everyone had some 'idea' about this question and wanted to share it!)

2 – Student tries to answer the Warm Up question but does not show evidence of any previous knowledge to assist in answering. Student may reveal misconceptions about concepts. Student does not use any information from the text or lecture notes to answer the question. (Incorrect answer)

Q3 = Chemodrugs are very powerful. They make cells very weak and it is hard for the cells to function. The cells have to strive just to do what they are supposed too. With this there has to be certain 'sacrifices' made. Hair growth isn't the most important thing a cell does so our bodies figure it at can wait until the cells are healthier.

Q3 = I think it is because they are trying to kill all of the bad cells and hair is only dead cells that have come together, so it just sees hair as bad cells and gets rid of it.

Q3 = Causes your the cells in your hair to age rapidly???

Q3 = I'm really not sure what is in the chemotherapy that would cause a person to lose their hair. I don't know if the DNA is repairing itself quick enough or if the chemotherapy is so foreign to the body that it is simply rejected. I'm reall not sure.

Q3 = I think that chemotherapy drugs cause a person's hair to fall out because the chemotherpy drugs are quite powerful and fighting off the cancer causes some other parts of the body to weaken or react abnormally.

Q3 = I think that the chemicals, or whatever it is that kills the cancer, just happens to affect hair cells, causing them to die and having the hair fall out.

Q3 = I think chemotherapy drugs cause a person's hair to fall out because the drugs are so strong on the body that a person't hair can't stand to last very long. The drugs try to kill the cancerous cells which probably in the process kill good cells too. These good cells which die cause the hair folicles to become weakened and fall out.

Q3 = I think that the drugs given to fight cancer cause a person's hair to fall out because they somehow damage the cells that hair grows out of while trying to fight cancer. In turn, that causes the hair to fall out.

(Note: 83 of 176 students answered in this category - lots of 'hypotheses' and misconceptions about this question)

3 – Student shows some prior knowledge and may use terminology to answer the Warm Up question. Student does not use appropriate information from the text or lecture notes to answer the question. (May be partially correct but still incomplete).

*Q3 = I belive chemotherapy drugs cause a persons hair to fall out because the drugs damage the hair cells and it will not let them replicate themselves until the drugs are out of their body. When the drugs are removed from the body, the hair cells start to replicate and the hair starts to grow back.

*Q3 = They have to kill many cells off just to terminate the cancerous cells. Thus, they cause other cells such as hair cellsand sperm to weaken leading to fallout.

*Q3 = I think chemo kills the cells in our roots of our hair.

Q3 = The chemotherapy drugs used to fight cancer attempt to kill of the living cancer cells. Hair cells are not nearly as hard to kill as cancer cells and unfortanitly the drugs can not be centered only on the cancer cells. This results in the killing off of many cells with the ultimate goal of killing the cancer cells in mind.

Q3 = I belive chemotherapy drugs cause a persons hair to fall out because the drugs damage the hair cells and it will not let them replicate themselves until the drugs are out of their body. When the drugs are removed from the body, the hair cells start to replicate and the hair starts to grow back.

Q3 = I'm not sure-I must have skipped over this in the notes or readings. Possibly though chemo slows down cell growth and that's why hair (which quickly replaces itself) stops growing and falls out until the end of treatment.

Q3 = Chemotherapy drugs probably affect a persons hair to fall out because when trying to kill off the cancer cells there is also an affect on other cell as well. And one of the main cells that are affected is the hair cells which causes the hair to fall out.

(Note: 51 of 176 students answered in this category)

4 – Student answers the Warm Up question correctly and completely. Student incorporates information from the text or class notes into the answer. Student may look for answer outside the class (web, etc).

*Q3 = Hair loss occurs because anticancer drugs can affect normal cells, including the cells responsible for hair growth. This effect, however, is not permanent, and healthy cells grow back normally once chemotherapy is completed. Scalp hairs in the "anagen" or growing phase is susceptible to chemotherapy and radiation. The degree of hair loss depends on the chemotherapy drug, the dosage of chemotherapy or radation, and how it is given.

*Q3 = Ok, I was able to find an answer to this one : ) 'Chemotherapy = treatment of disease with chemicals or drugs; the term most often refers to treatment of cancer. Traditional cancer chemotherapy poisons all body cells to some extent, but particularly targets rapidly dividing cells such as cancer cells. Its effect on other rapidly dividing cells (hair follicles, cells lining the stomach, and red blood cells) accounts for some of the common side effects.'

Q3 = It stops mitosis all together, which causes the cancer to stop growing and to try to kill it, but also kills your hair follicles in the process.

Q3 = Chemotherapy kills both cancer and healthy cell. The healthy cells that are at risk are the ones that grow at a faster rate. Hair cells grow rapidly and can be killed by the chemo.

Q3 = The chemotherapy focuses on stopping cells from reproducing. Regular cells normally reproduce and die, reproduce and die, and so on, but cancer cells can go on forever if supplied with enough nutrients. Our hair is made up of dead cells, so when the chemotherapy is introduced into the body and takes its effect on the cells, then the normal cells stop reproducing and they stop dying. This eventually causes your hair to stop growing and whatever hair is left will fall out, because the roots of the hair are not strong enough anymore. Sometimes, the cancer cells don't stop reproducing though, so then doctors try alternate treatments.

Q3 = Chemotherapy treatments are prescribed to prevent the growth of any single dividing cell in cancer patients. As hair is a single dividing cell this can affect ones hair causing partial or complete hair loss in patients.

(Note: 36 of 176 students answered in this category).

Note from Kathy Marrs: I was looking for the students to make connections between mitosis (the subject of the week), cancer (uncontrolled mitosis) and chemo (drugs that kill cells actively undergoing mitosis = any actively dividing cells). Hair loss is one of the most visible effects of chemo, but many tissues are affected (lining of mouth and digestive system, sperm production, etc). After this Warm Up, I wrote a Good For on Chemotherapy Drugs, since the students seemed so interested in the subject (and because so many interesting 'hypotheses' were put forth on why these drugs make your hair fall out!)