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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
Sensory Receptors: How We Understand a Complex World
Student Edition
(English/Spanish)
Teacher Edition
(English/Spanish)
From Molecules to Organisms MS-LS1-8:
Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.]
Pacing Guide:
Color Key: Green words- Hands-on Activity Black words- Book reading Blue words: Revisit the Phenomenon
Instruction day 1 (pages ): Explore the Phenomenon
Instruction day 2 (pages 105 - 106): Read and discuss
Summary:
An introduction to the author and to sensory receptors with a riddle. Solve the riddle.
Lesson objective:
To introduce the function of the brain and how it controls different processes in the body.
Summary:
An introduction to the author and to sensory receptors with a riddle. Solve the riddle.
Lesson objective:
To introduce the function of the brain and how it controls different processes in the body.
Video: How the brain works:
Instruction day 3 (pages 107 - 108): Read, draw, and discuss
Summary: The brain has its own communication system, with which it sends signals to the rest of the body to carry out functions. The senses (smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing) all depend on brain activity to respond to specific stimuli. The stimulus is converted to signals the brain can understand. Sensory receptors are highly specialized nerve cells that sense these different stimuli from the environment. Sensory receptors respond to light, chemicals, sound waves, and touch.The nervous system has three categories for its function: Sensory, motor, and integration. Sensory receptors are important components of nervous system mechanisms.
Lesson objective: To introduce the concept of how the brain sends and receives information and stimuli from the outside environment.
Activity:
Draw what you like to sense:
-Something that tastes good
-Something you like to smell
-Something you like to see
-Something you like to hear
-Something you like to touch
-Something cold/hot
Instruction day 4 (pages 109 - 110): Read and discuss
Summary: The nervous system is composed of the brain, the spinal cord and nerves. The nervous system is divided into two main branches, the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system. The central nervous system is the brain and the nerves that make up the spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system includes the nerves that branch out to the rest of the body.The nerves are numerous axons held together by connective tissue. The cells of the nervous system are called neurons. Nerves look like whitish cables, and they connect the brain or spinal cord to the rest of the body.
Lesson objective: Students learn the difference between the central and peripheral nervous system, and the general layout of these branches of the nervous system.
Instruction day 5 (pages 111 - 112): Read, write, and discuss
Summary: Neurons are cells that transmit messages (impulses) in the brain and the nerves.
The peripheral nerves connect the sensory receptor systems with the central nervous system. A neuron is composed of three main parts: Cell body- Has all the basic parts of a cell. Receives impulses.
Axon- Is a single cylindrical extension of the cell. Its function is to conduct impulses over large distances to other nerves, muscles, or glands.
Dendrites- Narrow extensions of the cell, that are short and branched. Receives stimuli from other neurons, from sensory skin cells, or from the environment.
Lesson objective: Students differentiate nerves from neurons of the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Instructions: Solve a mathematical problem to visualize the size of a neuron.
Video: Nervous System Song
Instruction day 6 (pages 113 - 114): Read and discuss
Summary: A nerve trunk is made up of thousands of nerve fibers grouped together in bundles with layers that separate smaller bundles from each other. Nerve fibers have blood vessels that supply what they need for proper function. Sensory receptors transform signals into messages that can be understood by the brain. These signals, or stimuli that you can sense produce a reaction response.
Lesson objective: The anatomical organization of a nerve is described. Students read about the organization of nerves within a nerve trunk. The function of sensory receptors is defined.
Guiding Questions:
Ask: Why do you think nerves have so many layers and separation between bundles? What do you think would happen if they were not grouped like that?
Example: Responses will vary. Molecules or signals would be mixed up. Responses of the nervous system would not be activated properly, etc.
Instruction day 7 (pages 115 - 116): Read and discuss
Summary: The peripheral nervous system has several types of sensory receptors. The sensory receptors are highly specialized nerve cells.
Photoreceptors- For sight (eyes).
Chemoreceptors- For taste and smell (nose and mouth).
Thermoreceptors- For touch, feeling hot or cold (skin).
Mechanoreceptors- For touch (skin).
Nociceptors- For pain (skin).
In your skin there are thermoreceptors and they are responsible for communicating with your nervous system to regulate your core body temperature. Do you think they care about the temperature of your blood or the temperature of your body tissues? Well my friend, it is both of these! How body temperature is regulated locally at the tissues is through the blood. So thermoreceptors maintain the temperature of the blood directly.
Lesson objective: Students get a small introduction to the different types of sensory receptors.
Instructions:
Label the experience with the correct sensory receptor that would receive the stimulus.
-
It is a sunny day and the light of the sun is bothering your eyes. You decide to put on sunglasses.
_________Photoreceptors_________________
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Your friend has a brand new kitten. You pet his fur and it feels nice and soft.
__________________Mechanoreceptors________
-
You wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom in the dark, but you forgot you left your Legos on the floor. You start walking on the legos and feel the pain on the bottom of your feet.
___________Nociceptors________________
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Your mom made your favorite, mac n’ cheese! You savor every bite.
_____________Chemoreceptors______________
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It's winter time and you are about to walk to school when you notice how cold it is outside. You decide to go back in and put a sweater on.
_________Thermoreceptors________________
Instruction day 8 (pages 117 - 118): Read and discuss
Summary: Sensory receptors communicate with the brain by sending signals the brain can understand, from a specific stimulus. The frequency of signals to the brain varies and goes in hand with the type of stimulus it receives. There are high, medium and low frequency signals. The signals differ by the amount of urgency or immediate action the stimulus requires.
Lesson objective: Students understand the difference between the different types of signals sensory receptors send to the brain.
Instructions: Determine the frequency of the signals on page 118.
Video: How does your brain respond to pain
Instruction day 9 (pages 119 - 120): Read and discuss
Summary: Not all sensory receptor signals lead to a physical response of movement or action. Activation of photoreceptors or chemoreceptors can stimulate feelings and memories accordingly.
Animals use sensory receptors to survive. All animals have a nervous system, except for one. (sea sponge)
Other responses to sensory receptors are as follows:
Say your friend startles you, the reaction in your body to that is an elevation in blood pressure and for your heart to beat faster. A higher than normal blood pressure triggers the activity of baroreceptors that command the autonomic nervous system to bring down the blood pressure back to normal.
The “fight or flight” phenomenon is a great example as well. Let’s put this into a scenario where you need to decide to fight or flee. Say you’re out hiking in the mountains, and all of a sudden you run into a bear! What would you do? Confront the bear to make him get away? Or run and get away from him as fast as possible?
Here’s what’s happening in your body while you decide: By receiving the stimulus from the photoreceptors your brain perceives it is a threat and causes the strong activation of the sympathetic nervous system, producing several responses. These responses consist of increasing your heart rate and blood pressure, preparing your muscles by diverting more blood to flow to them, decreasing movement and secretions in your digestive system, dilating your eye pupils, and sweating
Lesson objective: Animals, though different than humans, have a nervous system and some of their sensory systems can be heightened more than others.
Video: How do animals experience pain?
Instruction day 10 (pages 121 - 122): Read and discuss
Summary: A table of several sensory receptors, their functions, and examples are provided. These include baroreceptors, chemoreceptors, proprioceptors, osmoreceptors, mechanoreceptors and nociceptors.
The level of intelligence in some animals is proportional to the size of their brain. Spiders and sea squirts are examples.
Lesson objective: Students are prompted to experiment with their senses and examine their own sensory receptors.
Students are introduced to the relationship between brain size and intelligence in animals.
Instructions: Use the table on page 121 to test each type of sensory receptor. Do the activities listed for each type of receptor and discuss with a classmate your observations.
Instruction day 11 (pages 123 - 124): Read, graph, and discuss
Summary: The relationship between brain size and intelligence in animals is evaluated. Intelligence is defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Brain and body weight are compared.
Lesson objective: Students are prompted to read and apply the table data to determine why brain size matters in a species by using the graph to support their claim.
Instructions: Plot the data on the table comparing brain mass to body mass on the graph. Label each data point with the name of the animal.
Video: The octopus brain is extraordinary
Guiding Questions:
Ask: What does this graph tell us about brain size?
Example: The graph shows that animals with bigger brains in relation to their body size are usually more intelligent. The intelligence trend line is an arbitrary line drawn to visually divide the data. Generally animals above the line are considered to be very smart. An animal that seems to break the intelligence trend on this plot is the gorilla. Gorillas are very smart. They have complex social structures and they are capable of using tools. This plot is not a very good indicator of a gorilla's intelligence, probably because gorillas are so strong and uncharacteristically large compared to the other animals on the plot.
Instruction day 12 (pages 125 - 126): STEM Vocabulary
Summary: Students use their notes and STEMTaught journal to elaborate on the list of STEM vocabulary words.
Instruction day 13 (pages 127 - 130): Hands on activity: Making Connections!
Summary: Understanding the basic principles of electricity will help you understand and relate to how our nervous system works. The nervous system is quite literally an electrical system, and it obeys all the same principles of electricity that your test circuit does. Electricity must flow in a loop. The direction electricity flows in is from negative to positive, and electricity flows through conductors and is held back by insulators.
Lesson objective: Students learn about electric circuits and conductivity in this hands-on lab. The correlation on how nerves transmit stimulus signals is made to how electricity flows in a circuit.
- Construct a working circuit
- Test various objects for conductivity
- Inspect a cross section of a computer data cable under the microscope to see
that it is made of bundles of conductive wire surrounded by insulators. Relate the
similarities in construction nerve cells in our bodies and the computer cable.
Nervous System
Students explore electricity and relate it to how our nerves function.
Laboratory preparation:
1. Get Electricity Koa
2. Print student lab sheets – one per student
3. Watch the teacher prep movie https://youtu.be/oYTgQ2gNCRs
Materials needed for each student:
Electricity Koa
- 3 alligator cables per student
- 1 Nova Light per student
- 2 paper clips per student
- 1 rubber band per student
- Various materials to test for conductivity (suchs as paper, plastic, rubber, metal)
Running the Lab Activity:
1. Watch the class video
The Nervous System: Conductors and Insulators
2. Class Exploration Activity
Students build test circuits. Distribute electrical supplies and let each student build a test circuit to test their conductors and insulators. Students hypothesize, test, and record the results of their conductivity tests on their lab sheets. Allow students to explore additional things in the classroom to test their conductivity. Warn students that touching electrical outlets in the classroom is dangerous and not allowed.
3. Microscope observation of electrical cable cross sections. Now that students understand conductors and insulators, allow students to observe a wire cross section,
sketch it, label the conductors and insulators on their drawing, and compare it to the
diagram of the peripheral nerve on their worksheet.
4. Teacher Demonstration: Conduct a demonstration showing that salt water is a
conductor and sugar water is an insulator. Relate this to nerve cells in our body that contain conductive and non conductive fluids.
Supplies: 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon salt, 2 nails, 2 small cups, 2 AA batteries
connected in series with a light.
Students saw that the salt allowed the water to conduct electricity. Sodium is a metal and
when its particles float in the water solution, they conduct electricity. Your nervous system also uses salt. It is the sodium (Na+) ions provided by the salt that make our nervous system work. Our nerve cells concentrate sodium particles (Na+) and potassium particles (K+) from salts in order to function.
5. Relate the lab activity to the nervous system: Discuss with your class that your nervous system is similar to the electrical circuits that they explored. Your nervous system has conductors and insulators in it, just like the wires. It consists of circuits that send signals to our brains much like the lights in their electrical circuit. The signals that our nervous system sends to our brain are simple on and off signals, just like the light. Our nervous system can vary the speed of the on off signal (frequency) to add meaning to the communication signal. For example: “It hurts a lot (fast blink)” or, “It hurts a little (slow blink).”
Instruction day 14 (page 131): Writing Workshop
Summary: After being introduced to the nervous system and types of sensory receptors, students can apply what they learned by writing about how sensory receptors enable a stimulus to be transmitted to the brain for an immediate response or storage as memory. Students use the RACE writing method to answer a question on nerve signal frequency.
Ask:
How can changing the frequency of a simple signal communicate useful information?
Instructions: Reread “The Signals of the Brain are Simply Beeps” on page 118. Use the RACE writing method to help you organize your response to this question.
Refer students to page 9 for instructions on writing with RACE.
Lesson objective:
Students are prompted to think deeper and write about sensory receptor activity and signal frequency in the nervous system.
Instruction day 15: 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*