Getting to know our Nervous System A Web quest for 6th grade Science

1. Getting to know our Nervous System A Web quest for 6th grade Science Designed by Nicole Guercia

2. 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

3. 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.

4. 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 • Interactions among the senses, nerves, and brain make possible the learning that enables human beings to cope with changes in their environment.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. This is the rubric on how web quest will be evaluated…

9. 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.

10. Credits Thank you to… The website http://faculty.washington.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