The document presents a problem for creating an educational video or animation about the health benefits of a particular technology. The student has chosen to research pacemaker cells and will create a video to inform an older audience about this technology. It outlines the student's research questions, sources that will be used, and a plan to test the effectiveness of the video through a questionnaire.

1. Unit 1 Question:
To What Extent Does our Health Depend on Technology?
Area of Interaction (AOI):
Health and Social Education
Significant Concept:
Our health is only as good as our health service

2. Problem
I need to create a video or an animation to educate a certain group on the health benefits of a
certain technology. My aim is to inform people so that they know about the health benefits of
this technology. I will have to choose one type of technology which benefits the health and
then present it to a group of people. The video or animation will have to be informative, so
people can learn about this technology and interesting so people will want to learn about it. I
have already chosen what technology I will research: the pacemaker. I have chosen this
technology because I am very interested in this topic and how it works inside the human body.
Also I am very interested in biology so this links in very well with it.
What technologies I could research:
Pacemaker
Electronic cigarette
Dialysis machine
Electronic toothbrush
How the problem relates to me
This problem relates to me because my grandfather needs to have an operation to insert a
pacemaker cell so this affects me because his health has an effect on the well being of my
family.
How the problem relates to the society
This problem relates to the society because in this way older people can live longer without
having heart problems. This is a benefit to my society but also something negative because it
can sometimes happen that the pacemaker can have a malfunction, leading to abnormal
heartbeats. In my research I will find out what are the advantages and disadvantages of the
pacemaker and decide if it is positive or negative for my society.
How the problem links to the Area of Interaction
This problem links to the Area of Interaction because it is Health and Social and the technology I
am going to research benefits the health of old people to extend and improve their lives. By
creating a video I will inform people about this particular kind of technology which could
improve their lives.

3. Questions I will need to answer
-Knowledge (information about the technology)
1. What is a pacemaker and how does it work?
2. What are the advantages and the disadvantages?
3. How is it helpful to society?
-Presentation (making the product effective)
1. How can I make the video interesting to different age groups? (survey)
2. What are people interested in?
-Practical skills (using the software to make your product)
1. What software do I need to use?
2. What skills do I need to work with this software?
The sources I will use will be: websites, books, videos, television programmes, newspaper
articles, magazine articles and interview an expert. I will need to use at least four in order to
have enough information and so that it is reliable.
To evaluate my sources I will ask myself these questions:
Are they unbiased?
Are they valid?
How reliable are they?
How do I know this?
Were they too detailed?
Did they not give enough detail?
Were they just right?
Why?

4. Design Brief
The way that I will attempt to address the Problem stated is to create a video in order to inform people
about a certain technology. The first thing I will do is my research about the pacemaker cell so I will
know what will go in the video. Then I will start researching how the program I will use to create the
video works. After collecting all this information I will start creating the video. I will have to plan my time
carefully because I don’t want to stay behind and I will respect all the deadlines and the fixed dates.
Before starting to create the video I will make a plan of all the different parts in the video and how they
will combine. Also I will need to think about the music in the video, the information and how long it will
be.
I am going to create my video when I finish doing my research and when I will know how the program
works I will create the video in school because the software that we will use is on the school computers.
I will make a plan of the time it will take me to make the video so I don’t have to do it at home. To test if
people like my video I will make a questionnaire and ask people what they think about it. Because my
target audience is an old age group I will ask my grandparents and also maybe my parents because when
they get older they could be interested in this kind of technology. I will ask them if they think it is clear
and it has informed them about this technology.
In class we saw some videos that some students a few years ago made so we can understand what we
are aiming to do. The videos all had some music and they had alternated parts of writing and acted or
animated parts. Some videos had also parts where students acted out a small role play informing about
the technology they had chosen.
GOAL: I will educate my target audience which is an older age group on the health benefits of the
pacemaker cell.
TARGET AUDIENCE: my target audience is going to be an old age group. From about 65 to 80 years old.
They are the interested age group because the technology I will research is studied for older people as it
helps to regulate the heart beat and it prevents strokes.
MAJOR CONSTRAINTS: one of the major constraints will be time, because we don’t have much class time
and I will have to do a lot at home, considering also my other homework I will have to be careful not to
forget things. Another constraint will be the software that we will use, because it is quite an old program
and I will have access to it only in the computer lab. Also I have never used this software before and I
will learn how to use it and all the function it has. I am not very good with these kinds of softwares so it
will be quite difficult for me. I could ask the ICT teacher Mr Mariani for help as he is an expert in this
field.
CRITERION: my aim is to make an entertaining video that will also inform people about my chosen
technology. People should not be bored when they look at my video but they should be interested in
learning more about it and find it helpful.

5. Design Specification
Design specifications are a set of features that must be clear recognizable in the product. I will evaluate
my product against these specifications.
-
Limits:
define the range of performance
Demands: requirements or features which must be met
Wishes: requirements which should be met
Function: What it needs to achieve and do.
Appearance: How it should look (e.g. for a powerpoint mention slide transitions, for a movie
mention video effects, lighting, etc.).
Content: The information included it. Also, the type of content – e.g. information on a
technology presented in the format of a story.
Materials: What it will be made from (if you are making something physical, it would be wood,
metal, etc. but if you are designing something on computer it will be things such as sound
effects, video clips, images, etc (which you found during your investigation).
Size: The dimensions or length – (for example a movie would have a run time and an aspect
ratio, an animation would have both a run time and pixel dimensions).
LIMITS
Function
Must not talk
about more than
one technology
It must not be
aimed at a
random age
group, it has to be
specific
Appearance
Must not look
childish
Content
It must have at
least 10 facts
about the tech.
Materials
Images about
tech. information,
video clips.
The music must
not interfere with
the video.
Size
Must not be
longer than three
minutes.
Must not be made
in a poor quality
Appearance
Must be no longer
than three
minutes
It has to be a
video or
animation
It has to be
professional
Content
Must have 10
facts
Materials
There must be
music
Size
Has to be high
quality
Has to contain
images
It has to be
created in a video
format
The video has to
be three minutes
or shorter
DEMANDS
Function
Must only talk
about one
technology
It needs to be
aimed at a specific
age group
Has to be
interesting and
captivating

6. WISHES
Function
It should be aimed
at the specific age
group
It should teach
something and
inform people
Should not bore
people
Appearance
Should look
professional
Content
It should have
intersting images
Has to contain at
least 10 facts
Materials
There should be
music, fitting the
topic
It should be a
video format or
animation
Size
It should be high
quality
It should be
around three
minutes long
Test Plan
Test name
Does the video talk only about
one technology?
Is it aimed at only one specific
age group?
Is it informative?
Is it interesting and captivating?
Does it look professional?
Is it longer or shorter than three
minutes?
Is it a video or an animation?
Does it have at least 10
interesting facts about the tech?
Does it contain interesting
images and video clips?
Does it contain interesting
inofrmation?
Does the music interfere with
the video?
Actual Outcome
Comments/improvements?

7. Does the music fit the topic
treated?
Is it created using a video
format?
Is it high quality?
This table contains all the design specifications i have written previously so it is very complete and
contains many specification angainst which i will test my product. When i will create my final prdouct I
will use this test plan table to see what other people think about the video i will create. Another way in
which i could test if people like my video is by doing a survey. It could contain questions like: do you
think the video is interesting? Do you think it is informative? Did you enjoy watching it? This will give me
a wider range iof opinions so I can improve the video in many areas.
Questionnaire
Question
Person 1
Person 2
Person 3
Person 4
Person 5
Did you like my video?
Do you think it was interesting?
Did you enjoy watching it?
Did you learn something about the
technology?
Did you like the music used in the video?
Does it look professional?
Are the images and video clips interesting?
Comments...
This questionnaire will be useful to assess my final prdouct because this way I can see what people think
about it and in what ways I can improve it.

8. Evaluating my performance
During the Investigate stage I have worked really hard and tried to produce my best work. I wrote
everything in detail and followed every step by looking at the grade 11 unit 1 blog Mr Mariani made. I
was also very organised during this tsage because I worked a lot in class so I didn’t have to do it at home.
I am also ahead of the rest of the class because I worked quickly without distranctions. I am very pleased
with the work I have done in this stage because it is detailed and well written. The part that I found
most difficult in this stage was writing the specifications because there are three different sections: the
demands, the wishes and the limits and it was difficult to think of that many and put them in categories.

9. Research
What Are Pacemaker Cells?
Pacemaker cells are specialized cells that cause involuntary muscles and tissues to contract or dilate.
They are found in all involuntary muscle groups, which can be striated or smooth tissues. Striated
involuntary muscles are found in the heart, smooth involuntary tissue can be found in the brain, blood
vessels, and the digestive system.
Pacemaker cells have a specialized cell membrane that allows sodium and potassium to cross and trigger
their electrical impulses. Once the first cell generates an electrical impulse, it triggers a chain reaction in
the other pacemaker cells.
The heart’s pacemaker cells are usually found in the right atrium in an area called the sinoatrial node.
The electrical impulses generated by these cells cause the cardiac muscles to contract. They also control
the rate of each contraction. Pacemaker cells generate an electrical impulse approximately 70 times per
minute when the heart is at rest and up to 160 times each minute during exercise.
All of the heart’s cells are capable of acting as a pacemaker cell. The cells located in the sinoatrial node,
however, are considered primary because they are faster than the other cells. They are responsible for
starting the chain reaction most of the time. The other cells are then secondary and will fire in the event
that the pacemaker cells in the sinoatrial node fail to start the chain reaction. When both primary and
secondary pacemaker cells fail to keep the heartbeat regular, an artificial pacemaker might be
considered.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-pacemaker-cells.htm
Evaluating this source:
This source was very useful because it explains exactly what a pace maker cell is and its function. I think
that this source is quite reliable because it was published by two researchers, Nobel laureate Eric
Kandel, M.D., and Steven A. Siegelbaum, Ph.D., at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. So this proves
that it is a very reliable source and that the information contained in this article is reliable. This source is
also unbiased because it is a medical article so there is no opinion on a medical aspect. This article was
not too detailed because it was the correct amount of information and there was not too much detail
about the heart. It is just what I needed because it is also easy to understand for me.

10. The Body's Electrical System
Have you ever wondered what makes your heart beat? How does it do it automatically, every second of
every minute of every hour of every day?
The answer lies in a special group of cells that have the ability to generate electrical activity on their
own. These cells separate charged particles. Then they spontaneously leak certain charged particles into
the cells. This produces electrical impulses in the pacemaker cells which spread over the heart, causing it
to contract. These cells do this more than once per second to produce a normal heart beat of 72 beats
per minute.
The natural pacemaker of the heart is called the sinoatrial node (SA node). It is located in the right
atrium. The heart also contains specialized fibers that conduct the electrical impulse from the
pacemaker (SA node) to the rest of the heart.
The electrical impulse leaves the SA node (1) and travels to the right and left atria, causing them to
contract together. This takes .04 seconds. There is now a natural delay to allow the atria to contract and
the ventricles to fill up with blood. The electrical impulse has now traveled to the atrioventricular node
(AV node) (2). The electrical impulse now goes to the Bundle of His (3), then it divides into the right and
left bundle branches (4) where it rapidly spreads using Purkinje fibers (5) to the muscles of the right and
left ventricle, causing them to contract at the same time.
Any of the electrical tissue in the heart has the ability to be a pacemaker. However, the SA node
generates an electric impulse faster than the other tissue so it is normally in control. If the SA node
should fail, the other parts of the electrical system can take over, although usually at a slower rate.
Although the pacemaker cells create the electrical impulse that causes the heart to beat,
other nerves can change the rate at which the pacemaker cells fire and the how strongly the heart
contracts. These nerves are part of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has
two parts - The sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic
nerves increase the heart rate and increase the force of contraction. The parasympathetic nerves do the
opposite.
All this activity produces electrical waves we can measure. The
measurement is typically represented as a graph called an
electrocardiogram (EKG). Here is an example of three heartbeats
from an EKG (Figure 5):

11. Figure 5
Each part of the tracing has a lettered name:
1. P wave - coincides with the spread of
electrical activity over the atria and the
beginning of its contraction.
2. QRS complex- coincides with the spread of
electrical activity over the ventricles and the
beginning of its contraction.
3. T wave - coincides with the recovery phase
of the ventricles.
Electrical system abnormalities can range from minor premature beats (skipped beats) that do not
require treatment, to slow or irregular beats that require an artificial pacemaker.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/heart4.htm
Evaluating this source:
This source was not very useful because it was too detailed and it contained too many scientific
explanations. If I had to do a biology research this would be perfect because it explains in lots of detail,
however it is not appropriate for my type of project because I have to put this information in a video
and if it is too complicated people will get bored and they won’t be interested in the rest of the video.
Even though it is not useful I checked this with the last piece of information that I got so I checked that it
was reliable and they both say the same things, only in this one there is much more detail. I got this
information from a very reliable science website so I am sure that it says correct things. However I won’t
be using this in my video.

12. LA REPUBBLICA.IT - SALUTE
CARDIOLOGIA
Pacemaker e vita quotidiana: ecco i
comportamenti da evitare
Oltre 60mila dispositivi vengono impiantati ogni anno per regolare il battito cardiaco e permettere una
vita normale. Ma alcune attività sono off limits: ecco una guida sui rischi nella vita di tutti i giorni
Per 60 mila italiani ogni anno è un piccolo apparecchio salvavita, oltre mezzo milione di persone se lo
sono già fatto impiantare nel nostro Paese (2 milioni in Europa). Parliamo del pacemaker cardiaco, un
minuscolo congegno - grande come una scatola di fiammiferi - che, inserito chirurgicamente sotto la
pelle del torace, è in grado di correggere nel caso che i farmaci non risultino efficaci i disturbi del ritmo
del cuore, intervenendo quando percepisce che sta battendo troppo in fretta, troppo adagio oppure è
un ritmo disordinato.
Una volta impiantato, il pacemaker diventa una parte dell'organismo con cui dover convivere
rispettandone però le caratteristiche. Abbiamo chiesto al professor Massimo Santini, direttore dell'Unità
Operativa di Cardiologia all' ospedale romano San Filippo Neri, quali sono gli accorgimenti per convivere
con il pacemaker: consigli semplici ma degni della massima attenzione, perché possono esistere
interferenze con strumenti della vita giornaliera.
Personal computer. Se vengono rispettate le normative base di sicurezza ed il pc è in buone condizioni,
è possibile lavorare al computer senza alcuna preoccupazione.
Elettrodomestici. Non ci sono controindicazioni. Evitare, però, di piegarsi sopra il forno a microonde in
funzione, controllando sul libretto, le indicazioni del produttore.
Telefono cellulare. Distanza minima d'uso, 15 - 20 centimetri dal dispositivo. Meglio, inoltre, conversare
accostandolo all' orecchio opposto a quello del corpo dove si trova il dispositivo ed evitare di tenerlo nel
taschino della giacca quando non lo si usi. Ideale è ricorrere all' auricolare e fare attenzione, all'
acquisto, al livello di dispersione elettrica indicata dal produttore.
Lettore mp3. Solo se si trovano a 3 centimetri dal dispositivo, auricolari e lettori digitali interferiscono
con il funzionamento di defibrillatori e pacemaker. È bene quindi seguire le stesse regole valide per il
cellulare.
Altoparlanti. Fare attenzione ad altoparlanti, forti magneti, generatori di corrente, saldatrici industriali
ad arco e motori, utensili a batteria come i cacciavite ed i trapani, linee di potenza ad alta tensione, forni
fusori, stazioni radar, antenne di trasmettitori. Non avvicinarsi a meno di cento metri per i trasmettitori

13. radio/tv e radar ad alta potenza, capaci di recare danni circuitali. Non chinarsi poi su motori elettrici in
funzione, come l' alternatore dell' automobile, che contengono spesso magneti.
In viaggio. Sono circa 6 milioni gli italiani che partiranno in vacanza per Pasqua. Per chi abbia un
pacemaker è possibile prendere l'aereo. In aeroporto, però, è utile portare con sè la tessera d'
identificazione del dispositivo perché sia quest'ultimo sia il defibrillatore attivano il metal detector.
Discorso analogo per i controlli di sicurezza nelle banche. Un portatore di pacemaker può viaggiare con
treno, aereo, automobile. E' bene informarsi, andando all'estero, dove siano ubicati i centri ospedalieri
specializzati.
In ospedale. Non ci deve sottoporre a risonanza magnetica, PET, elettro cauterizzazione e radioterapia
che possono causare danni permanenti al pacemaker tradizionale. Controindicate sono anche TENS
(terapia antalgica) e litotripsia per la cura dei calcoli renali e biliari. No anche all'ablazione,
defibrillazione e cardioversione esterna, cardioversione interna, terapia ad alta frequenza (diatermia),
elettro agopuntura, magnetoterapia. Non sussistono invece controindicazioni per i raggi x, così come per
l'uso di trapani dentistici ed apparecchiature per la pulizia dentale e l'uso d'ultrasuoni.
Un nuovo apparecchio. Grazie a un nuovo dispositivo ideato da Medtronic e presentato in un convegno
a Milano, i soggetti portatori di pacemaker di nuova generazione potranno sottoporsi a risonanza
nucleare magnetica. Il nuovo apparecchio risulta infatti insensibile ai campi magnetici, grazie alle
modifiche strutturali dei cateteri e dei circuiti del generatore apportate. Ogni anno vengono eseguite in
Italia 800 mila risonanze magnetiche, ogni 5 minuti in Europa viene negato questo esame ad un
paziente con pacemaker (300 mila nel nostro Paese). Fra i pazienti con pacemaker, il 17% deve fare una
risonanza magnetica per motivi di salute entro un anno dall' impianto e il 75% nel corso della vita.
Cos'è il pacemaker. Fu inventato, nel 1957, da Earl Bakken negli Stati Uniti. Emette impulsi elettrici
necessari per regolare la frequenza cardiaca. E' dotato d'un generatore d'impulsi e uno o due elettro
cateteri, che portano gli stimoli al cuore. Oggi i dispositivi sono automatici: analizzano le condizioni del
paziente e riducono al minimo gli stimoli artificiali. I sistemi, inoltre, raccolgono nel tempo i dati
sull'andamento della frequenza cardiaca e sono in grado di trasmetterli con la telemedicina da casa al
centro medico ospedaliero, rendendo così più semplice e precisa la gestione della cura del paziente.
http://www.repubblica.it/salute/medicina/2009/04/07/news/pacemaker_e_vita_quotidiana_ecco_i_co
mportamenti_da_evitare-5586025/
07 aprile 2009
Evaluating this source:
this sources was very useful even though it was in Italian, but it is not problem because I can translate it
when I need the information to put on the video. The article is about what you should avoid if you have
a pace maker machine installed in your body. For example it is advised to speak on the phone only using
headphones. The source is reliable because it come from an Italian newspaper so I am sure about using
this information for my project. There wasn’t too much detail and it was very clear.

14. Bibliography
Websites:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/human-biology/heart4.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-pacemaker-cells.htm
Newspapers:
La Repubblica – Cardiologia. Pacemaker e vita quotidiana: ecco i comportamenti da evitare