Download Neuron Stations

Station 2
Name:___________________________
Date:______________
Directions: Use your notes and the book to label the diagram with the following words, then answer the
questions on the back of this sheet:
Glial Cell (x2), Myelin, Axon, Nodes of Ranvier Dendrite, Nucleus, DNA, Neurons
**Also, draw an arrow to show the direction of the action potential along the neuron**
Questions:
1. The skeletal muscles are controlled by the _______________________________nervous system.
2. The smooth muscles and glands are controlled by the __________________________ nervous system.
3. Neurons consist of a cell body, axons, and _________________________, which receive information
4. Why is it necessary for there to be space between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of
another neuron?
5. What is the purpose of the myelin sheath?
6. What causes a nerve impulse move along the nerve fiber?
7. How do sensory neurons, association neurons, and motor neurons differ?
8. What causes a reflex? What is the advantage of a reflex action?
Station 1: Pipe Cleaner Neuron
Objective: To explore the structure and function of the parts of a neuron.
Materials: Pipe cleaners (5 different colors)
Directions: At this station, students will learn about special cells called neurons that make up the brain and spinal cord
while building a neuron out of pipe cleaners.
Q1: What makes skin cells different from muscle cells? What makes brain cells unique?
There are 5 basic parts to a neuron, as you build each part, answer the questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1) Cell body: take one long pipe cleaner and roll it into a ball. Inside the cell body is the nucleus, which is the control
center of the cell.
Q2: Do you know what DNA is, where is it?
2) Axon: take another long pipe cleaner and attach it to the new "cell body" by pushing it through the ball so there are 2
halves sticking out. Take the 2 halves and twist them together into a single extension. Axons send information received
from the neuron to the next neuron in its path. Axons can be as long as 3 meters and information can travel as fast as
100 meters/second (224 miles/hour).
Q3: What else can travel that fast?
3) Dendrites: take 2 short pipe cleaners (1/3 length) of the same color and push them through the "cell body" on the
side opposite the axon. Dendrites receive information from other neurons. The dendrites of one neuron may have
between 8,000 and 150,000 contacts with other neurons!
Q4: What would happen if one (or more) of these contacts were destroyed?
4) Myelin Sheath: wrap 4 short pipe cleaners (1/8 length) of the same color evenly spaced along the length of the axon.
Myelin is a special type of fat cell that wraps around axons to insulate the information that is being sent and helps
deliver it faster.
Q5: Why are electrical wires wrapped in rubber tubing?
5) Synaptic Button: wrap a small pipe cleaner (1/4 length) on the end of the axon. This is where information from one
neuron gets delivered to the dendrites of another neuron. There is a little space between the synaptic button and the
dendrite called the synaptic gap.
Q6: Why is there a synaptic gap? Why don't the 2 neurons just touch one another?
6) Label: When you are finished with making your neuron, bring it to the front & label it with your name!
Station 3: BrainU WebQuest: The Structure of the Nervous System
The Synapse and Learning : In this section we are going to focus on how nerve impulses travel from neuron to neuron
and how we learn new things. Website: mrhoutzscience.weebly.com (CLICK BRAINQUEST LINK)
Directions: Use the PAUSE button as you go through the video if you want to slow things down.
1. Label the following parts of the neuron and describe what it is /what it does: Dendrite, Cell Body, Axon and
Axon Terminal
2. Signals are sent from one neuron to another by jumping across a tiny space or _____________________.
3. Label the following parts of the synapse and describe what it is /what it does: Presynaptic Neuron, Vesicles,
Calcium Channels, Synaptic Cleft, Receptor Molecule and Postsynaptic Neuron
4. The list below is what happens when a neuron fires and sends a signal along to another neuron. Fill in the
missing blanks in each statement. (Remember to use the Pause button!)
a. When an ___________ ________________ begins in a neuron, it travels down the ______________.
b. When the action potential reaches the ___________ terminal, _____________ ________________
c. When calcium binds to the _______________, the vesicles carry ___________________
d. The neurotransmitter is released into the ___________ _____________.
e. Neurotransmitter diffuses across the synaptic cleft and binds to ______________ on the
________________________ ________________________.
f.
The post synaptic neuron receptors are activated. In this case, these receptors allow open and calcium
ions rush into the neuron toward the presynaptic membrane. ________________ ions in, causing an
____________________ potential to start in the postsynaptic membrane.
g. Neurotransmitters are __________________ back into the ___________________ cleft.
Exercises
1. By changing how nerves are connected, we ________________ _____________________.
2. In the first exercise, the star is always _______________________.
3. How do we learn?
4. We have specific neurons for recognizing __________________ and ____________________.
5. How did you learn to match the neurons, the star shape, and the color orange?
6. In the second exercise, what change did you make in your synapse?
7. List the ways that you might change a synapse.