Getting to know our Nervous System

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Getting to know our Nervous System
A Web quest for 6th grade Science Designed by
Nicole Guercia
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Introduction _____________________________________
_________________________________________ This
lesson was developed as part of the elementary
science methods course at Roger Williams
University, in Bristol, Rhode Island. After
creating a Trade book review on the expository
text, The Brain Our Nervous System by Seymour
Simon
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• Learners
• This lesson is anchored towards sixth grade
  Science. The lesson can easily be extended to
  additional grades and subjects. All that would
  need to be done is additional background
  knowledge on the Nervous System.
• Prior to beginning this lesson students need to
  know that basic functions of the Nervous System.
  Including a relative knowledge of the main parts.
  When entering the sixth grade children should
  know that
• Scientific investigations may take many
  different forms, including observing what things
  are like or what is happening somewhere,
  collecting specimens for analysis, and doing
  experiments. Investigations can focus on
  physical, biological, and social questions.
• Clear communication is an essential part of doing
  science. It enables scientists to inform others
  about their work, expose their ideas to criticism
  by other scientists, and stay informed about
  scientific discoveries around the world.
• Doing science involves many different kinds of
  work and engages men and women of all ages and
  backgrounds.

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• Curriculum Standards
• National Science Education Standards
• Life Science
• CONTENT STANDARD C
• As a result of their activities in grades 5-8,
  all students should develop understanding of
• Structure and function in living systems
• Reproduction and heredity
• Regulation and behavior
• Populations and ecosystems
• Diversity and adaptations of organisms
• Benchmarks for Science Literacy
• By the end of the 5th grade, students should know
  that
• The brain gets signals from all parts of the body
  telling what is going on there. The brain also
  sends signals to parts of the body to influence
  what they do.
• By the end of the 8th grade, students should know
  that

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• Curriculum Standards (continued)
• English Language Arts Standards
• Level II (Grades 3-5) By the end of grade five
  students should  
• Uses a variety of strategies to plan research.
• Uses electronic media to gather information.
• Uses key words, guide words, alphabetical and
  numerical order, indexes, cross-references, and
  letters on volumes to find information for
  research topics.
• Writing
• Benchmark 9. Uses conventions of spelling in
  written compositions (e.g., spells high
  frequency, commonly misspelled words from
  appropriate grade-level list uses a dictionary
  and other resources to spell words uses initial
  consonant substitution to spell related words
  uses vowel combinations for correct spelling
  uses contractions, compounds, roots, suffixes,
  prefixes, and syllable constructions to spell
  words)
• Reading
• Benchmark 1. Uses reading skills and strategies
  to understand a variety of informational texts
  (e.g., textbooks biographical sketches letters
  diaries directions procedures magazines
  essays primary source historical documents
  editorials news stories periodicals bus
  routes catalogs technical directions consumer,
  workplace, and public documents)
• Benchmark 4. Uses new information to adjust and
  extend personal knowledge base
•    

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• Process
• The students are given an outline of the human
  body, this is your ticket to travel!
• They will need to use the website given to go
  through and label the different parts of your
  human ticket!
• When their ticket is completely labeled, use the
  website to write about 1 higher function that
  you experienced in your travels!
• They then need to write 3 main facts about the
  higher function on the reverse side of your
  ticket!
• The students will be given all the websites that
  will bring them to the appropriate information.
  They need to visit each site in order to
  correctly fill out their diagram of the Human
  Nervous System. They have already spent time
  reading an informational text so they have prior
  knowledge. This is taught in one period per day
  and should not be extended over more than 2 days.
  The students are divided into their groups
  determined by the cluster of four peers that they
  sit with. If you anticipate any problems using
  the internet than this lesson will not work.
• As a teacher, he or she, needs to be patient and
  thorough. Making sure that the important elements
  are met. It is not a difficult lesson to
  administer.

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• Resources Needed to implement the lesson
• Class sets of books
• The Brain Our Nervous System by Seymour Simon
• E-mail accounts for all students
• Four Computers with Internet access
• Writing supplies of assorted colors.
• Dictionary
• Websites
• http//faculty.washington.edu/chudler/introb.html
• http//www.amazon.com
• One teacher is sufficient to implement this
  lesson. If there is a classroom aid available
  that would also help but it is not mandatory.

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This is the rubric on how web quest will be
evaluated
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Conclusion The worthiness of this lesson lies
with in the importance of learning about the
Brain and the human Nervous System. The lesson
involves enrichment activities that will expand
the students knowledge on the Nervous System in a
way that in intriguing and interesting to the
student.
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Credits
Thank you to The website http//faculty.washing
ton.edu/chudler/introb.html for all of their help
and collaboration in providing the Nervous System
links! The book The Brain Our Nervous System
by Seymour Simon , For helping the class gain
prior knowledge about the Nervous System! The
Web quest Link to Web quest