Lesson Title: The Human Body - Nervous System
Curriculum Area: Science
Technology Strand: Telecommunications
Grade Level: 7
 
Essential Question: What are the major organs in the nervous system, what is their function, and how do they perform in relation to the rest of the Human Machine?
 
A Activity Summary Students will work in groups of 3, visiting five seperate learning stations, investigating the parts of the nervous system and the functions of this system.
C Curriculum Science
4.01 Analyze how human body systems interact to provide for the needs of the human organism:
  • Musculoskeletal.
  • Cardiovascular.
  • Endocrine and Nervous.
  • Digestive and Circulatory.
  • Excretory.
  • Reproductive.
  • Respiratory.
  • Immune.
  • Nervous system.
GCS A.L. - Systems: Determine how various systems work together and are structured to bring order to complete organism
T Technology Telecommunications
2.05 Use a variety of collaborative tools to survey, collect, communicate information for content area assignments.  
 
Activating Strategies
In the Hot Seat - 5 minutes
Purpose: To motivate student learning
Description: In this activity, several students will be asked to sit in the "Hot Seat" and answer questions related to the topic of study.
Q1. What is the "control center" of the nervous system?
Q2. What runs throughout your body and "tells" your muscles to move?
Q3. Where is the "super highway" of nerves that comes from the brain located?
Q4. What is the term for a movement that does not require thought?
Q5. If you're in pain, those signals run from your nerves to where?
 
Technology Vocabulary: 
Detailed Technology Instructions:
 
Cognitive Teaching Strategies
The teacher will hand out the graphic organizer on the nervous system (see Graphic Organizer in Resources). The teacher will the read the essential question contained on organizer. Give brief outline on parts of the system, specfically new vocabulary. Vocabulary will include: brain, nerves, spinal cord/column, cerebrum, cerebellum, medula oblongata, reflex, autonomic nervous system.

Outline of lecture:
The nervous system is a communications network that helps animals adjust to their environment. The three main parts of the system are the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves. The brain can, at times, be compared to a computer in that it processes incoming information, sends instructions back out through pathways. These pathways are your nerves.

The brain is the processing center. It has three main parts: 1)the cerebrum, which is the largest, 2) the cerebellum, and 3) the medulla oblongata.

Your spinal cord runs down the center of your back, is protected by the spinal column, and contain 31 pairs of nerves coming out of each side. If a pathway of nerves is severed, a part of the body will not receive a signal, and consequently will not work.

Nerve cells are called neurons. Nerve cells that move information to the brain are called sensory nerves, while neurons that move information away from the brain are called motor nerves. An action that takes place without thinking is called a reflex action. Reflex and involuntary actions, such as heartbeat, are controlled by the autonomic nervous system.

The main functions of the nervous system are to: 1) control muscles and tissue, 2) control organs, 3)control senses, and 4)control thinking.

Classroom organization:
Students will be grouped into 4 groups of 3 students. There are 5 stations set up throughout the room: Computer Central, the Human Machine, Anatomy Study, Frankenstation, and Research Corner. The students will spend roughly 15 minutes at each station. If a group or student finishes early, they may go back to a station that was not completed, or browse Human Body reference materials.

Explaining the center activities:

  1. Computer Central - Students will use a search engine, e.g., Yahooligans, to find diagrams of the brain or nervous system. Once the students find an acceptable image, they will copy and paste the image into a text box on a word document. These pictures will be printed, cut out, and added to our body board (see body board file below). If they finish this activity, the students will go to the website, "Your Gross and Cool Body," and read the information on the nervous system.

  2. The Human Machine - This center is dedicated to hands-on activities and experiments. Students will perform two experiments, one based on perception, the other, sight. Both experiments are found on the nervous system graphic organizer (see graphic organizer).

  3. Anatomy Study - Students will view diagrams from various expository texts in order to draw and label a sketch of the human brain and spinal column. While at this station, students will also label two index cards. Card one will contain an organ that is part of this system, while card two will list the function of that organ. These cards will be placed on the classroom body board.

  4. Frankenstation - Students are in the process of "cloning" themselves, by coloring different body organs and adding them do an outline of their own bodies. This lesson will find them coloring and adding a brain.

  5. Research Corner - Students will be given a 3 x 3 vocabulary sheet with terms related to the nervous system (see 3 x 3 vocabulary sheet). They must make 6 sentences using the words provided, by relating the three words across each row and down each column. Research materials such as Fandex cards and expository texts will be provided, so that the students can practice the skill of finding information through print media.
 
Summary Strategies
Brace Map
Students will complete a brace map on the parts and functions of the nervous system (see Brace Map in Resources). The brace map is one member of an array of graphic organizers called Thinking Maps. The Thinking Map series was developed by the Innovative Learning Group, 1995. The purpose of the brace map is to break down a system from whole to parts, and the format for our map was created using Inspiration Software.
 
Resources
For directions on how to download files choose: Mac (Kid Pix or Microsoft  Works), Windows (Kid Pix or Microsoft Works or Office), or Mac/PC (AppleWorks).

Microsoft Word Documents:
Graphic Organizer
3X3_Vocabulary Worksheet
Brace Map

Pictures of Displayed Information
Picture of Display Board
Another picture of Display Board

Online resources:
http://yucky.kids.discovery.com/body/
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/science_and_nature/living_things/biology/Anatomy/m
http://www.google.com/image

Expository text:
Rowan, P., Some Body. Knopf: New York, 1995.
Parker, s., Human Body. DK Publishing: New York, 1999.
Rudin, s., The Body, How it Works. Workman Publishing, New York: 1999.
 
Re-teaching and Enrichment Activities
A brace map will be created at the end of the lesson for each of the six major body systems that we are covering in this unit. When the unit is completed, the students will fuse the information from each system and produce an even larger map that covers the entire body.

The concept for this lesson plan was submitted by

Mike   Ward

 Madison Elementary, Data last modified: 10/15/2006