Download Nervous System

Diagram of the nervous system
• The top of the picture is the brain.
• The line down the middle of the picture
is the spinal cord.
• All of the blue lines in the picture are
nerves.
Nervous system
• The nervous system is one of many major systems in
the human body. It is made up of your brain, spinal
cord and all of the nerves in your body.
• The nervous system is a network of cells that
communicate information throughout your body and
control everything you do. For example…walking,
breathing and thinking. Without your nervous
system you couldn’t do any of these things.
Neurons?
• The nervous system contains many petite (tiny)
specialized cells that are called neurons.
• These small and unique cells have a big job to do in
your body, the complexity and diversity of the nervous
system is depending on the connections between
neurons, which rely on a limited number of different
signals transmitted within the neurons, to other
neurons, muscles and glands.
Brain?
• Your brain is in fact the boss of your entire body. It runs the show and controls just
about everything you do, even when you’re asleep.
• The typical brain weighs about 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms). Different parts of the brain
have different jobs like the cerebrum (suh-ree-brum) which controls the ability to let
you move around, think and speak. The cerebellum (sair-uh-bellum) controls the
ability for you to have coordination and balance. The thalamus carries messages from
you sensory organs such as your tongue, eyes, ears and skin. The brain stem controls
your breathing, heart beat and digestion, it also connects the brain to the spinal cord.
The spinal cord acts like a highway, where messages from the body travel to the brain
at over 2 hundred miles per hour. From the brain the messages are sent back again, in
the messages are tiny electrical signals that also travel at the same rate.
Why is it called the nervous system?
• The nervous system is not called the nervous system because it
is nervous, it is actually called the nervous system because it
is made up of billions of nerve cells. One hundred billion of
these cells can be found in the brain.
• You have nerves in your nervous system to help you feel
sensations, like when water is too hot or too cold. Then the
nerves deliver their message to the brain and the brain
understands that the water is either too hot or too cold.
Eyes…why do they tear?
•Have you noticed when you get dust in
your eye that it starts to tear, but your
not sad. This is actually protecting
your eyes by keeping them moist.
When your eyes tear up, everything is
washed away.
Nose?
•You just came home from school and you
smell dinner…yum! Then you smell your
nasty gym bag. How are you able to smell
this stuff? Your nose lets you smell and
it's a big part of why you are able to taste
things too.
How the nervous system works with other
systems
• The nervous system works with the respiratory system
because the nose is the gateway to the lungs which is
how our bodies are supplied with oxygen.
• The nervous system works with your digestive system
by pushing your food down your esophagus and into
your stomach.
Fun facts
1. Did you know that a humans cerebrum is bigger than
an animals cerebrum.
2.You have over 100 billion cells in your brain.
3.Your cells travel at the speed of 200 miles per hour to
the brain and back consecutively.
4.Did you know that your nose helps you taste stuff in
your mouth.
5.Did you know that when the doctor taps your knee it
is testing your nervous system and your reflexes.