Introduction Activity

Zip/ Zap/Zoom/Boom!

Send Zip, Zaps in different directions. Explain to students that this game shows how energy is transferred.

See Creative Technique 6. Zip/ Zap/ Zoom/ Boom!

Question

How do reactions work in your body?
Prompts if needed: senses, brains, nerves.
They need focus to listen, think react with the body.

Development Activity

Interactive Presentation (Teacher)

Introduction to topic
Ask questions: what do learners already know?

Activity – Situation/Reaction Game

Divide students into groups. Each student is given one task/role card.
Each group is assigned a different situation.

In groups, students work together to roleplay what happens in the given situation. They must work together as a group to act out parts of the nervous system to physicalise the situation presented by the teacher

Example: “You smell something sweet coming from the bakery shop. You will walk towards the shop, go inside and buy something sweet!”

Students physicalise and verbalise the following steps:

The student who has sensory cells task/role card smells “the stimulus” i.e. the Bakery shop smell. The Student with the stimulus task/card either moves themselves or passes a ball they are carrying via sensory nerve (Student who has this card should be nearby in the room) through the brain stem (Student who has this card should be close to the sensory nerve) to the sensory cortex of the brain. This results in an awareness of Bakery Shop Smell. The “Stimulus” passes the ball they are carrying to the Student with the brain card. This ball becomes a new impulse which moves from the motor cortex of the brain via a motor nerve to the muscles in your legs. This results in the group walking towards the shop.

Student tasks/roles in this example are: Stimulus (The Smell), Sensory cells in the nose, sensory nerve, brain stem, brain, motor nerve, muscles in the leg.

Showing of work (Students)
Students show what they have rehearsed. They will narrate what is happening as they are acting out the different situations.

See Creative Technique 32. Role-plays

Consolidation of Learning

Exam question:

Harry is trying to catch a train. As he enters the platform, he hears the
conductor’s whistle and starts to run for the door.
Describe what happens in Harry’s body, starting with hearing the sound of the whistle up to the execution of his response. Make sure to use the proper biological terminology.

Correct answer:

Stimulus of sound is received by hearing sense. An impulse goes via a sensory nerve through the brain stem to the sensory cortex of the brain ► awareness of whistle.

A new impulse goes from the motor cortex of the brain via a motor nerve to the muscles in your legs ► running towards train door.

Finish with the Unison Clap!

See Creative Technique 35. Unison Clap