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Meet the Micro:bits
Coding is easy and fun when students meet the micro:bits. Learn to write and download code, so you are ready to create your own scientific tools!
Meet the Micro:bits
Coding is easy and fun when students meet the micro:bits. Learn to write and download code, so you are ready to create your own scientific tools!
Student Edition
(English/Spanish)
Student Edition
(English/Spanish)
Student Edition
(English/Spanish)
California Wildfires
Watch Class Movie
teacher Prep
Lab sheet & activites
Class Movie
Watch Class Movie
Class Movie
Teacher Prep Movie
Lab Materials Needed
Blockey Koa Crate
from Kea STEMCrate
- 1 Springy Spring Scale per student
Student Lab Sheet
Body Systems: The Anatomical Studies of Leonardo da Vinci
Student Edition
(English/Spanish)
Teacher Edition
(English/Spanish)
From Molecules to Organisms MS-LS1-3:
Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the conceptual understanding that cells form tissues and tissues form organs specialized for particular body functions. Examples could include the interaction of subsystems within a system and the normal functioning of those systems.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the mechanism of one body system independent of others. Assessment is limited to the circulatory, excretory, digestive, respiratory, muscular, and nervous systems.]
Pacing Guide:
Color Key: Green words- Hands-on Activity Black words- Read and Discuss Blue words: Explore the Phenomenon
Instruction day 1 (pages 71 - 72): Read and discuss
Summary: A fun introduction to the authors and to body systems with a riddle. Guess the riddle.
Lesson objective: To introduce the concept that the human body is composed of organ systems that work together to keep us alive. Students explore organ systems that are made up of different types of tissues, and recognize that tissues are made of cells.
Ask: One of the authors is from California State University Bakersfield, have any of you seen this school?
Example:CSU is a big beautiful campus that anyone can go and visit. One fun thing to do at CSU is to go to the Fab Lab. The Fab Lab is a free community resource where you can use 3D printers!
Instruction day 2 (pages 73 - 74): Read, watch and discuss
Summary:A fun introduction to the author and to body systems with a riddle. Guess the riddle.
Lesson objective:
To introduce the concept that the human body is composed of organ systems that work together to keep us alive. Students explore organ systems that are made up of different types of tissues, and recognize that tissues are made of cells.
Instruction day 3 (pages 75 - 76): Read, write, and discuss
Summary: The importance of asking questions, taking good notes and journaling is emphasized with the example that Da Vinci was a very good note-taker and recorded his questions.
Lesson objective: Students are prompted to make use of good note taking and journaling to study science. The importance of asking questions is emphasized, as this leads to discovery.
Instructions: Read all of Da Vinci's questions and then think of some of your own. Have students write their questions next to Da Vinci's. Thinking of questions and writing them down is the essence of science.
Ask:
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What do you wonder about how the body works? Make a list of the body’s organs you can think of and write one question about each.
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Look at da Vinci’s questions on p. 75. Can you answer some of his questions?
Activity:
Work with a partner and each of you can pick 2 questions from your lists. Talk about these questions and try to answer them with your own knowledge, write down your answers. Next, do some research and find answers for your questions from academic sources (teacher provides a source).
Ask: In Da Vinci's time how did people get information?
Example: There were no computers or cell phones, there were no printing presses to easily make books. Books could take an entire persons life to copy and make and so they were guarded by the ruling class. Leonardo studied everything he could from and took notes that filled hundreds of journals. Even though we are surrounded by books in our day there is just as much to discover and write about.Let's get started with your questions.
Instruction day 4 (pages 77 - 78): Hands-on - Measure your own proportions
Summary:
In his famous sketch of the Vitruvian Man, Leonardo Da Vinci portrays the proportions and measurements of the human body. Da Vinci made great contributions to the study of human anatomy. We are multicellular organisms and our bodies are made up of millions and millions of cells.
Lesson Objective:
Students explore the symmetry and shape of the human body by taking some measurements of their own.
Activity:
Leonardo da Vinci measured the proportions of the human body. Use
Materials
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Yarn/string
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Scissors
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A hardcover book
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A helper (optional)
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Pen and paper (optional)
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Measuring tape (optional)
Instructions:
1. First we need to create a string that is the length of your height. The easiest way is to lie on the ground with your heels pressing against a wall and looking up. Place a hardcover book resting on your head and resting on the ground. Now you can stand up. (A partner can make this easier)
2. Carefully lay the the string from the book so you to the other end to the wall, or have your partner hold it for you. Cut it when you get to the wall to represent your height.
3.Stretch your arms out as far as they can reach. Your arms will be parallel to the ground. Hold one end of the piece of yarn you just cut off with the fingertips of your left hand. Let your helper span the yarn toward the tip of your right hand's middle finger. Is the string about the same length? What does this tell you about how your arm span compares to your height?
4. Now let’s explore another ratio: the length of your femur bone to your height. The femur bone is the only bone in your thigh. To measure its length, sit down and span a new piece of yarn over your thigh from the hip joint to the edge of your knee and cut the yarn there.
5. Experiment with the number of times the length from the top of your head to the bottom of your chin fits into your height. You may need a partner to help you. Place a book on your head and measure from the book to your chin.
*Have fun with this easy and engaging activity. Please share a class photo that we could add to our site ;)
Ask:How do you think your height compares with your arm span? Would it be similar, way longer or way shorter?
Example: Get students ideas and then have them try step 3. to get an answer.
Ask:How does your height compare to your arm span?
Example:For most people, their arm span is about equal to their height. If yours is a little off remember we did not take off our shoes to measure ourselves so you can cut a little off your string to account for that. Mathematicians say the arm span to height ratio is one to one
Ask:Make an estimate of how your femur bone compares to your height. Can you find a way to test your estimate? *Hint you can use your string to measure your femur
Example:Did you find that the length of your femur goes about four times into your height? If you divide your height in four equal pieces then that is the measurement of your femur bone. Mathematicians call this a one to four ratio
Ask:How many times do you think the length of your head fits into your height?
Example: If the other end of the string is about level with your chin, your height would be about six times the length of your head, or your head to body ratio would be one to six.
Instruction day 5 (pages 79 - 80): Read, draw, and discuss
Summary: Tissues, organs and organ systems are defined. Throughout this unit students will draw and label organs and parts of the human body on Da Vinci’s illustration on page 79.
Lesson objective: Students learn about the levels of organization of the body.
Ask:Are tissues a cell?
Example:Tissues are made out of many cells
Ask: Do your cells live forever?
Example: Most of the cells in your body are being replaced every few weeks, like skin cells, while some of the cells such as nerve cells live as long as you do.
Research: Have each student research a specific type of cell and it's life span (how often the body replaces it)
Instruction day 6 (pages 81 - 82): Read and discuss
Summary: The skeletal system is the set of bones that hold the human body together. There are 206 bones in the human body and inside the bones there is bone marrow. The bone marrow is the organ where blood cells are made.
Lesson Objective: Students learn about the major bones that make up the human skeleton.
Instructions:
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Leonardo da Vinci measured the proportions of the human body. Use Mezzie measuring tape to measure your standing height. Next, like da Vinci, measure yourself kneeling to see if he was right by stating that if you kneel you decrease a quarter of your height.
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Draw the humerus and the clavicle of the right arm on the human body diagram on p. 79.
If students need help drawing the bones, this skeleton drawing tutorial could be helpful:
Instruction day 7 (pages 83 - 84): Read, draw, and discuss
Summary: Read about the types of muscle and discuss with your students the purpose of each one.
Lesson Objective: To identify the 3 types of muscle that exist in the human body, where they are located and their function.
Instructions: Students draw muscles of the left arm on the human body diagram p. 79. Label deltoid, triceps, and biceps.
Investigate: Find out why muscles become sore after exercise.
dents
Ask: What type of muscle is in your stomach?
Ask: How does skeletal muscle get bigger when you exercise?
Ask: Why do muscles get tried?
Instruction day 8 (pages 85 - 86): Read and discuss
Summary: Continue
Lesson Objective: Observe
Instructions: Label the heart on the human body diagram p.79
Read the article on the “mini heart model.”
Ask: True or false: The heart can beat by itself.
*3D Printing of human tissue: https://youtu.be/uHbn7wLN_3k
Instruction day 9 (pages 87 - 88): Read and discuss
Summary: Continue
Lesson Objective: Students explore how the lungs, being part of the respiratory system, work to help us breathe.
Materials needed: Plastic soda bottle, 3 balloons, 1 wide straw, 2 regular straws, and tape
Instructions: Draw and label the lungs in the human body illustration on p. 79.
DIY lungs!
Teacher support:
Ask: True or false: The oxygen rich blood that comes from the lungs is blue.
*Tiny medical devices: https://youtu.be/L_9BDZ6ZBwk
Instruction day 10 (pages 89 - 90): Read, draw, and discuss
Summary: Read, draw, and discuss
Lesson objective: Students learn about the processes of the digestive system and the basic anatomy of the gastrointestinal tract.
Instructions: Draw and label the stomach and intestines in the human body diagram on p. 79.
Ask: After a big meal we often feel tired and sluggish, why do you think this happens?
Ask: How are the rest of the organs of our body protected from the food that goes into our GI tract?
*How the digestive system works https://youtu.be/Og5xAdC8EUI
Instruction day 11 (pages 91 - 92): Read and discuss
Summary: This
Lesson Objective : Students read about the excretory system and the major organs, liver and kidneys, involved in excretion of molecules and substances.
Instructions: Draw the missing kidney on the human body diagram on page 79.
Ask: Why do you think it is harmful to eat too much candy?
Ask: Can you think of 2 reasons?
Ask: Bile acid sounds like it is toxic to the body. How does it not harm the inside of your body?
*What does the liver do? https://youtu.be/wbh3SjzydnQ
*The kidneys country song: https://youtu.be/zWw2yZlsRG0
*Read a science news article:
One step closer to growing made-to-order human kidneys:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190205185207.htm
Researchers successfully used stem cells to grow mouse kidneys inside rats.
Instruction day 12 (pages 93 - 94): Read and discuss
Summary: Students should learn the difference between a peptide and a protein. A peptide is a linear molecule composed of two or more amino acids. A polypeptide is a linear chain of many amino acids. A protein is made of polypeptides that form a complex 3D structure.
Lesson objective: To identify the organs involved in the endocrine system and their function. Students explore the importance of the pancreas in carbohydrate metabolism, and of insulin for regulation of sugar levels in the blood.
Instructions: Draw and label the thyroid gland on the human body diagram on page 79.
**The discovery of insulin: https://youtu.be/JXKXobieDKs
Treatment with insulin in humans and dogs: https://youtu.be/k_3hbrqLZ5U
Instruction day 13 (pages 95 - 96): Read, draw, and discuss
Summary: The nervous system is composed of the brain, spinal cord and nerves. The nervous system commands organs to carry out their functions. It is involved in the senses and in the storage of memory and the formation of thought processes.
Lesson objective: Students understand the general mechanism of how the brain controls organ function and how the spinal cord is the central branching point for the nerves to reach all the rest of the body.
Instructions: Draw and label a nerve in the right arm and shoulder of the human body diagram on p. 79.
Ask:
Investigate how the brain controls the heart. Can the heart function without the brain? Can the brain function without the heart?
Watch a funny cartoon on how the brain works: https://youtu.be/-nH4MRvO-10
Nerves, neurons and receptors… how they work: https://youtu.be/uU_4uA6-zcE
Read an article: Leg exercise is critical to brain and nervous system health: In a new take on the exercise truism 'use it, or lose it,' researchers show neurological health is an interactive relationship with our muscles and our world
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180523080214.htm
Instruction day 14 (pages 97 - 98): Read and discuss
Summary: Leonardo da Vinci was a very talented and intelligent scholar. He studied human anatomy extensively and his work laid important groundwork for the study of anatomy and physiology.
Lesson objective: Students learn about the contributions of Leonardo da Vinci and read his description of dissecting the cadaver of a centurion.
Instruction day 15 (pages 99 - 100): Read and discuss
Lesson objective: Students explore new advances in medicine and technology since Da Vinci’s time.
Instructions: Watch a video on how the Da Vinci robot stitches a grape back together:
Read a news article on how bioengineering has contributed to medicine
Tiny origami-inspired devices opening up new possibilities for minimally-invasive surgery
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160302145848.htm
Instruction day 16 (page 101): Hands on activity: Program a Digestive System Game!
Summary: Scratch is a kid-friendly program that allows students to create games, actions and animations on the computer.
In this lab students learn how to use an if statement and an if-else statement. They use programming logic to program a game to guide a hamburger through the digestive system.
Lesson objective: Students program a digestive system game using Scratch software and learn computer language commands.
Instructions:
The Digestive System- STEMTaught programming
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Go to stemtaught.com
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Navigate to Students>Scratch programming>Grade 6
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Open the Scratch template “The Digestive System_If and Else Statements”
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Watch the tutorial video and follow along as a class:
Code a game
Instruction day 17 (page 102): Vocabulary
Summary: Students use their notes and STEMTaught journal to elaborate on the list of STEM vocabulary words.
Instruction day 18 (page 103): Writing Workshop
Summary: After being introduced to the different systems of the human body, students can apply what they learned by writing about how the body is a system of interacting subsystems made of different types of tissue, and the tissues are composed of groups of cells.
Lesson objective: Prompt investigation of a body system of the student’s choice. Students inquire about a specific question of their own making and think of an experiment that could help answer the question.
Instruction day 19: Evaluate
Google Forms Quiz: Teachers can access what students understand through this google forms quiz.
Click the link to copy this google form into your personal Google classroom.
Click the link to copy this form into your Google classroom.
*No password is required for the quiz*