Nervous System Lesson Plan: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Nervous System, and supports the standard of using a model to describe how animals receive, process, and respond to information. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Ask students:
- How do your senses help you understand the world around you?
- How can your senses help keep you safe?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Read the description on the Nervous System topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the articles, then partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Assign the Nervous System Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND
Students express what they learned about the nervous system while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
- Make-a-Movie: Produce a tutorial that explains what happens within your nervous system when you sip ice water.
- Make-a-Map: Make a concept map comparing and contrasting the autonomic and somatic nervous systems.
- Creative Coding: Code a comic that illustrates a reaction from the somatic nervous system.
More to Explore
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of the nervous system with these topics: Brain, Spinal Cord, Neurons, and Touch.
Teacher Support Resources:
- Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
- Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
