Lesson 4 - Peripheral Nervous System
Objective 1: Describe the function of the sensory division of the peripheral nervous system.
Objective 2: Describe the functions of the motor division of the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system consists of all the nerves and associated cells that are not part of the brain or spinal cord. It is our link to the outside world, and consists of the sensory division and motor division. The sensory division of the peripheral nervous system transmits impulses form sense organs to the central nervous system, and the motor division transmits impulses from the central nervous system to muscles and glands. Responses of muscles and glands allow us to react to our environment (both internal and external) in ways that maintain homeostasis and assure our survival. 5 minutes: At the Door Have students hand in homework; and do the quick quiz (up on the screen) map of the brain. Students need to tell two things that each part of the brain is responsible for controlling. 10 minutes: Think Pair Share Have students think about an event or an experience that they have had where their heart was racing, share this experience with their partner. Call on several students to share their experience with the class (using stick picks). Explain that we will be learning about the sympathetic nervous system that involves organs from both the sensory and motor divisions of our peripheral nervous system. 20 minutes: Notes Students will add notes to their last notes (notes from slides 19 - 36 from the PowerPoint slide show in lesson #1. 40 minutes: Reaction Time Lab Students will learn that often their sympathetic nervous system is critical in "fight or flight" reactions, and the reaction time is often critical to their survival. During this lab, students time their reaction time in a simple activity. They will be using math to convert distance in to time in milliseconds. They will be able to see if increased repetition will decrease response time, and whether their reaction time is shorter with their dominant or non-dominant hand. Students will graph the response time comparing dominant hand with non-dominant hand and analyze their results. 10 minutes: Processing Talk about other variable that could be compared in the lab, i.e., were boys response times faster/slower that girls? Did reaction times get faster with more trials? Hand in the lab with the graph completed at the end of the period. Tell students there will be a clicker quiz next class. |
Put up the picture of the brain and have students work with their seat partner to identify the functions of each part of the brain pictured. They can use their notes or book to help them.
Reaction time can be measured using this simple activity. Students will work with a partner to do this activity. Students will use math to convert distance to time/ms, and will graph their data on graph paper.
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