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Teacher Resources
Demos and Activities
- Response Time
The classic activity to investigate how fast our nervous systems respond is to have a partner drop a ruler between the thumb and forefinger of another person. For a laboratory activity that allows students to investigate reaction time via vision, hearing and touch download the following pdf:
Life Responds PDF
Students can also explore their response to color changes. (Note: This does not work with Internet Explorer.)
- Playdough Recipe for the Exercise Your Brain activity on comparing mammal brains: 1 cup salt, 2 cups white flour with enough water to moisten. Put food color in the water before mixing.
- The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction is an excellent resource on brain information and activities. It is a FREE curriculum from the National Institutes of Health. Order a copy.
- Brain Facts is an exceptionally well written book on the brain. It is provided FREE from the Society for Neuroscience. Order individual copies.
California State Standards
Grades 9-12
Physiology
9. As a result of the coordinated structures and functions of organ systems, the internal environment of the human body remains relatively stable (homeostatic) despite changes in the outside environment. As a basis for understanding this concept:
b. Students know how the nervous system mediates communication between different parts of the body and the body’s interactions with the environment.
d. Students know the functions of the nervous system and the role of neurons in transmitting electrochemical impulses.
e. Students know the roles of sensory neurons, interneurons, and motor neurons in sensation, thought, and response.
Investigation and Experimentation
1. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other four strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
b. Identify and communicate sources of unavoidable experimental error.
c. Identify possible reasons for inconsistent results, such as sources of error or uncontrolled conditions.
d. Formulate explanations by using logic and evidence.
j. Recognize the issues of statistical variability and the need for controlled tests.
k. Recognize the cumulative nature of scientific evidence.
National Research Council Standards
ABILITIES NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
- IDENTIFY QUESTIONS AND CONCEPTS THAT GUIDE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS. Students should formulate a testable hypothesis and demonstrate the logical connections between the scientific concepts guiding a hypothesis and the design of an experiment. They should demonstrate appropriate procedures, a knowledge base, and conceptual understanding of scientific investigations.
- USE TECHNOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS TO IMPROVE INVESTIGATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS. A variety of technologies, such as hand tools, measuring instruments, and calculators, should be an integral component of scientific investigations. The use of computers for the collection, analysis, and display of data is also a part of this standard. Mathematics plays an essential role in all aspects of an inquiry. For example, measurement is used for posing questions, formulas are used for developing explanations, and charts and graphs are used for communicating results.
UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY
- Scientists usually inquire about how physical, living, or designed systems function. Conceptual principles and knowledge guide scientific inquiries. Historical and current scientific knowledge influence the design and interpretation of investigations and the evaluation of proposed explanations made by other scientists.
- Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data. New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the technology used.
Life Science - CONTENT STANDARD C:
THE CELL
- Scientists rely on technology to enhance the gathering and manipulation of data. New techniques and tools provide new evidence to guide inquiry and new methods to gather data, thereby contributing to the advance of science. The accuracy and precision of the data, and therefore the quality of the exploration, depends on the technology used.
MATTER, ENERGY, AND ORGANIZATION IN LIVING SYSTEMS
- As matter and energy flows through different levels of organization of living systems--cells, organs, organisms, communities--and between living systems and the physical environment, chemical elements are recombined in different ways. Each recombination results in storage and dissipation of energy into the environment as heat. Matter and energy are conserved in each change.
THE BEHAVIOR OF ORGANISMS
- Multicellular animals have nervous systems that generate behavior. Nervous systems are formed from specialized cells that conduct signals rapidly through the long cell extensions that make up nerves. The nerve cells communicate with each other by secreting specific excitatory and inhibitory molecules. In sense organs, specialized cells detect light, sound, and specific chemicals and enable animals to monitor what is going on in the world around them.
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