The Nervous System 6th Grade Health
Learning Target: Success Criteria: To be successful I will know: I will learn about the nervous system. Success Criteria: To be successful I will know: The parts of the Central Nervous System, their basic functions, and be able to label them. What a Neuron is, its parts, and be able to label them. The function of the sensory nerves. The function of the motor nerves. How much the avg. adult human brain weighs. About how fast messages travel along neurons.
The Nervous System… It makes sure all the different systems in the body work together. Maintains your consciousness Coordinates what you sense or feel and your reactions to your senses Responsible for your learning and memory
Brain Nerves Nerve tissue Spinal cord / spinal column / spine / vertebrae Nerves Nerve tissue
Central Nervous System (CNS) Peripheral Nervous System Includes the brain and spinal cord. The CNS is surrounded by bone-skull and vertebrae. Fluid and tissue also insulate and protect the brain and spinal cord. Includes all the other nerves in your body. 12 pairs of cranial nerves coming from your head 31 pairs of spinal nerves coming from your backbone
Question: How big is the brain? How much does the brain weigh? Answer: The adult human brain weighs approximately 3 lbs. A newborn human brain weighs a little less than 1 pound on average.
Areas of the brain The brain is composed of three parts: cerebrum (seat of consciousness) cerebellum (control center of movement) medulla oblongata (part of the unconscious brain) The next several slides will show the parts of the brain and the functions of each part.
Another look at the brain…
What is a neuron? A neuron is a nerve cell. The brain is made up of approximately 100 billion neurons. The neuron is the functional unit of the nervous system. Humans have about 100 billion neurons in their brain alone! While they vary in size and shape, all neurons have three parts.
Parts of a neuron and the direction of nerve message transmission… Dendrites receive information from another cell and transmit the message to the cell body. The cell body contains the nucleus and is the main part of the neuron. The axon sends messages away from the cell body.
Types of neurons… Sensory neuron: gathers information and sends it to your brain or to your spinal cord. Interphase neuron: receives information from the sensory neuron and passes it along to the motor neuron. Motor neuron: carries the information to muscles or glands in the body.
Nerve Cells
Nervous System Video… Watch the video provided in the link below for more brief info on the nervous system… http://www.kidshealth.org/PageManager.jsp?lic=1&article_set=59295&cat_id=20607