Skip to content

Dementia Types Comparison Tool

Run the Dementia Types Comparison Tool MicroSim Fullscreen

You can embed this MicroSim in your own course website with this iframe:

<iframe src="./main.html" width="100%" height="502px" scrolling="no"></iframe>

About this MicroSim

Dementia Types Comparison Tool is an interactive MicroSim for this health-education textbook.

Students differentiate Alzheimer's disease, vascular

Use the controls in the panel below the drawing to interact with the model, then talk through what changed and why. The MicroSim is width-responsive and can be embedded in any course page with the iframe shown above.

Bloom's Taxonomy level: Analyze (L4) — differentiate, compare, examine

Lesson Plan

Audience

This MicroSim is designed for Grades 9-12. For the K-3 bands the teacher typically drives the activity on a shared screen; older students can explore the MicroSim independently.

Learning Objective

Students differentiate Alzheimer's disease, vascular

This activity targets Bloom's Analyze (L4) (differentiate, compare, examine).

Suggested Use (about 10 minutes)

  1. Warm up (2 min). Ask students what they already know about the topic and let one volunteer describe what they see on the screen.
  2. Model it (3 min). Demonstrate the interaction once, thinking aloud so students hear the reasoning behind each choice.
  3. Guided practice (3 min). Invite students to try the interaction and to predict what will happen before they act.
  4. Discuss (2 min). Ask why the result came out the way it did, connecting the on-screen result back to the learning objective above.

Check for Understanding

Have each student (or pair) explain their result in one sentence, using the vocabulary from this chapter. Look for reasoning that matches the Analyze-level objective rather than a lucky guess.

Specification

The full specification below was extracted from Chapter 7: Brain Health, Sleep, and Emergency Care.

Type: infographic

**sim-id:** dementia-types-comparison-tool<br/>
**Library:** p5.js<br/>
**Status:** Specified

Bloom Taxonomy Level: Analyze (L4)
Bloom Verb: differentiate, compare, examine

Learning objective: Students differentiate Alzheimer's disease, vascular
dementia, Lewy body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia by cause,
typical early symptoms, and progression pattern.

Layout: Four labeled columns, one per dementia type, each with three rows:
Underlying Cause, Typical Early Symptoms, Progression Pattern

Data Visibility Requirements:
  Stage 1: Show all four columns populated with the chapter's descriptions
  Stage 2: Clicking a column header opens an infobox with one additional
  respectful, factual detail about that type
  Stage 3: A short scenario describing a person's symptoms is shown, and
  the learner selects which dementia type it most closely resembles,
  reinforcing the distinguishing features
  Stage 4: Reveal explanation naming which specific detail in the
  scenario pointed to that type

Interactive controls: Click any column header for expanded detail; button
"Try a Scenario" reveals a symptom description and answer options; button
"Next Scenario" cycles through 3 scenarios

Instructional Rationale: Differentiating several related conditions by
their distinguishing features is an Analyze-level objective, so a
structured comparison with a scenario-matching check is used rather than
simple recall of a definition list.

Implementation notes: p5.js; content written in respectful, non-alarmist
language; no graphic or frightening imagery; scenario data stored as an
array of {symptoms, correctType, explanation} objects.

References