• comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention. (1)
• demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health. (5)
• demonstrate the ability to use goal-setting and decision-making skills that enhance health. (6)

• define the nervous system
• infer that different parts of the brain control parts of the body, including the five senses.
• simulate how messages travel between the brain and nerves.
• recall information about the brain and the senses.
• identify the parts of the nervous system.
• relate the senses to the nervous system.

MATERIALS:

• The Incredible Human Body activity book
• Brain at Work! Handout
• Map Your Brain! Handout
• Index cards
• 5-10 file folders, cut in half along the fold
• marker
• pencils
• white string
• Nervous system vocabulary poster
• Body cutout
• Glue or tape
• Assessment/evaluation sheet
• Picture of the brain

• The Nervous System
• Neurons
• Central Nervous System
• Peripheral Nervous System
• Brain
• Spinal cord
• Cerebrum
• Cerebellum
• Brain stem
• Sense organs

• Introduction:

• Read the science background information on page 18 of The Incredible Human Body book to the class.
• Ask the students if they have ever seen a picture of the brain. What does the brain look like?
• Display a picture of the brain.

• Activity 1:

• Model how to construct the booklet/handout, Brain at Work!
• Invite the students to read the book/handout, Brain at Work! to learn more about this organ.

• Ask the students: "If you see something, which part of the brain does that information go to?" (the cerebrum)
• Explain to the students that the different parts of the cerebrum process information coming from the different senses.
• Invite the students to do the activity handout, Map Your Brain! This activity will help the students to learn more about which brain parts control which senses.
• Have the students cut out the brain handout and place and attach it to their body cutout.

• Activity 2:

• Write one of the following messages on each of the three index cards: "Left hand feels itchy." "Eyes see the traffic light change to red." "Nose smells favorite food."
• Label folder halves as follows: brain, spinal cord, right hand, left hand, right foot, left foot, eyes, nose, mouth.
• Before class, lay out a string path and signs on the floor. (This should look like an outline of the body.)
• Ask the students how telephone calls travel from house to house? (through wires) What travels in the wires to get the message there so quickly? (electricity)
• Inform the students that they have special wires in their bodies that carry messsages from all over their body to their brain.
• Remind students of a hot, sunny day when they walked barefoot on sand or concrete, and suddenly realized it was so hot that they began to hop around. How did they know to hop? The skin on their feet sent a message to their brain, and their br ain sent a message to their leg and feet muscles to begin hopping.
• Tell the students that nerve cells work like wires in their body to carry messages to and from the brain. Nerves work in similar way to telephone wires because they use small amounts of electricity to rapidly send messages.
• Have the class brainstorm other parts of their bodies, besides their feet, that have nerve endings that can receive and send messages.
• Assign the following roles to four students: the Brain, the Spinal Cord, the Right Hand, and the Left Hand. Have them stand on the designated spots along the string pathway. Tell students that these "body parts" will act out how the nervou s system works.
• Give the left hand the appropriate message card and have him or her read it out loud. Then ask the class how the Left Hand could get the message to the Brain. (The Left Hand should pass the message to the Spinal Cord, who reads it and passes it on to the Brain.)
• Ask: What should the Brain do now? (The Brain should send a message instructing the Right Hand to scratch the Left Hand. The Brain should send the message through the Spinal Cord, who should pass it on to the Right Hand.) Have the brain w rite his or her message on an index card and pass it on to the appropriate players. When the Right Hand gets the message, he or she should scratch the Left Hand.
• Repeat the procedure with the second and third messages, asking for another set of volunteers each time. For each message, ask students where the message should go and what should happen.

• Conclusion:

• Invite students to write their own messages that players can act out. Change players for every message, to give all students a chance to participate.

• Students will have a constructed booklet of information about the nervous system. They will place this book in their human body folder.
• Students will complete the brain handout with 100% accuracy. They will be able to state/recall which parts of the brain control different parts of the body.
• The students will reply to the questions asked during activity 2 with accuracy.
• The students will act out the message cards from activity 2 with accuracy.
• The students will act out their own messages with 100% accuracy.
• Students will write a journal entry about this activity. They will include it in their human body folders.
• The students will evaluate their behavior and productivity during this activity.