Homework for the night before classes resume

Your homework (which is the equivalent to less than one night of homework) for the night before classes resume is to answer question below.  You may opt to turn this question in earlier, which is fine.  Please make sure that if you email me your answer, the subject line says "Answer to the Big Idea."

You might have thought that you escaped the question, but that is simply not the case. You are encouraged to use your notes, information from the blog and/or the modules to answer the question.  Just make sure that you cite where the information came from.

A "Big Idea" of biolog is that living systems store, retrieve, transmit and respond to information essential to life processes.  Discuss how the structures from at least three different levels of organization (cell, tissue...) within the nervous system possess emergent properties that exemplify and contribute to an understanding of the big idea.

Neurons in Series

Today in class you had a short quiz on action potentials.  After the quiz we reviewed how neurons communicate as well as how the nervous system provides examples for the major themes in the course (emergent properties, structure & function, etc).

Homework:  You have been emailed a worksheet and table to record your results of your attempts for the neurons in series activity from the NIH.

1. Review examples of neurotransmitters that are excitatory and inhibitory by looking at the animation below.

2. Examine the four cases of neurotransmission simulation.  In the table you were emailed, record your initial attempt in the first row for each case.  In the second row record the correct answer.

3. Complete and a print copy of your responses to questions 2, 3 and 4 for the blackworm post lab questions.  The post lab questions are on the last page of the Blackworm procedure packet.

PowerPoint for the Nervous System

Today in class we used slides 3-6 from Mr. Taylor's i-Biology PowerPoint on Nerves, Hormones and Homeostasis.

 

6.5 Nerves, Hormones and Homeostasis from Stephen Taylor

Homework for Wednesday

Please watch the Crash Course Video Below.

Watch it once WITHOUT taking notes and watch only until 7:30 

Then, write down the key concepts you remember.  STICK TO THE BIG THEMES (central vs. peripheral nervous system, what is a reflex loop?, sympathetic vs parasympathetic, the anatomy of a neuron) 

Watch it a second time and as you watch write down details that support the big theme you wrote down after watching it the first time.

This should take you no more than 45 minutes.  This is an introduction, not the 'end all, be all' (what does that phrase even mean?)

The BIG ideas for the Nervous System

Below are our objectives for the next two weeks.  You will get a copy of these objectives tomorrow in class.  The blank at the start of the objective is for you to write down the date(s) what you learned this material.  The blank at the end of the objective is for you to give yourself a score on how well you understand the material.

____N.1 State that the nervous system consists of the central nervous system (CNS) and peripheral nerves, and is composed of cells called neurons that can carry rapid electrical impulses. ___

___N.2 Draw and label a diagram of the structure of a motor neuron. Include dendrites, cell body with nucleus, axon, myelin sheath, nodes of Ranvier and motor end plates. ______

___N.3 Explain the levels of organization in the peripheral nervous system. ______

___N.4 State that nerve impulses are conducted from receptors to the CNS by sensory neurons, within the CNS by relay neurons, and from the CNS to effectors by motor neurons. ______

___N.5 Define resting potential and action potential (depolarization and repolarization). ______

___N.6 Explain how a nerve impulse passes along a non-myelinated neuron. ______

___N.7 Explain how the movement of Na+ and K+ ions to create a resting potential and an action potential.  ___

___N.8 Explain the principles of synaptic transmission. Include the release, diffusion and binding of the neurotransmitter, initiation of an action potential in the post-synaptic membrane, and subsequent removal of the neurotransmitter. ______

___N.9 Compare Parkinson’s Disease and multiple sclerosis with respect to the ways in which neurons are effected ______

___N.10 Identify factors which can lead to changes in communication between neurons.____

___N.11 Describe the major structures and functions of the vertebrate brain. ______

___N.12  Summarize the diversity of nervous systems in living things. _____

Always be thinking about how what you are learning relates to the themes of the course