Nervous System

Activity Guidelines for Biology Project 3

In this project, students use the museum and their own research to explore the

nervous system in depth.

Time Required: Museum visit – one to two hours; classroom review – one to two

45-minute classes; research/project – variable

Purpose: Students will identify and describe the functions of the nervous system.

Students will also design and complete experiments to test their response times,

or explore their senses or biological rhythms.

1995 Virginia Science S.O.L.s: BIO.1, BIO.3, BIO.4, BIO.5

Museum Galleries and Exhibits: My Size Gallery – Nerve Center, Automatic Pilot,

Funny Feeling, Nose Knows Not, Hear or There, Fooling the Eyes, Balancing Act

and Body Probe

Prerequisite Skills and Knowledge: Before beginning this project, students should

have a basic understanding of the nervous system. This project will work best if

used in conjunction with (or upon completion of) a unit on the nervous system.

Preparing for the Museum Visit:

¨ Divide students into small groups of three or four. These groups should

work together while visiting the museum and on a project once they return

to the classroom.

¨ Give each student a Museum Exploration Sheet. Discuss your

expectations for the museum visit. Students should work together to

answer the questions on their sheets using exhibits in My Size Gallery.

Visiting the Science Museum:

Using the exhibits at the Science Museum, students should work in their groups

to answer the questions on the Museum Exploration Sheets. If time allows,

encourage students to explore the remainder of the museum.

Nervous System Lesson Plan High School

Science Museum Copyright 2000

Museum Learning Links: SOL Connections

www.smv.org

Classroom Project:

1. Review the Museum Exploration Sheets that the students completed

during their museum visit. Answer any questions that they may have.

2. Give the students the Classroom Questions to complete. They should use

the Museum Exploration Sheets and their textbooks to look up the

answers. Once they have completed the questions, discuss the answers

as a class.

3. The students should work in the same groups as before to design an

experiment around one of the following topics:

A. What’s Your Schedule? (Biological Rhythms in Humans)

B. Testing Your Taste Buds

C. Mystery Boxes

D. Test Your Response Time

Allow each group to choose one of the given projects. You may want to

assign a project to each group. Give each student a copy of the

appropriate Student Project Sheet and a copy of the Experimental Design

Sheet. Students should fill out the Getting Started Chart on the

Experimental Design Sheet as they design their experiments.

4. Each group should test their project using the whole class or selected

classmates. After they have collected all of their data, students should

write a laboratory report that follows the guidelines provided on the

Experimental Design Sheet.

5. Each group should present their project to the class. If the group chose

Testing Your Taste Buds or Mystery Boxes, then the students may also

use their projects to teach younger students about the subject.

Project Conclusions:

Once the groups have presented their projects to the class, you may want to use

your version of the following questions as a conclusion to the unit.

¨ What is the function of the central nervous system?

¨ What is the function of the peripheral nervous system?

¨ How are nerve impulses transmitted?

¨ Describe how a sense is produced from a stimulus.

¨ What factors can affect your senses?

Nervous System Lesson Plan High School

Science Museum Copyright 2000

Museum Learning Links: SOL Connections

www.smv.org

Resources:

Science Fact File – Inside the Human Body:

www.imcpl.lib.in.us/nov_ind.htm

The Atlas of the Human Body:

www.ama-assn.org/insight/gen_hlth/atlas/atlas.htm

Body Quest – Exploration of Human Anatomy:

http://library.thinkquest.org/10348

He began by smacking a yardstick on a person’s desk when they weren’t looking and continued that (with various other things) throughout the class.

The results are interesting.