How Drugs Work

Lesson Activities

Lesson One: Inside and Outside My Body

Common Core Health Standard:

Growth - 1.3G Identify major internal and external body parts and their functions.

Speaking and Listening - 1. Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.

Objective: The objective of this lesson is for students to accurately identify major internal and external body parts and their function.

Warm Up (10 minutes): "Working with your team table write or draw as many body parts as you can in five minutes. Be ready to tell where it is located and what it does." After five minutes students will be called to the carpet areas using the signal words for the day, internal and external. Once seated on the carpet each group will share their list as I write a class list to be posted later. After each group has shared I will go through the list again asking, "Is this an internal or external part of your body? How does it work?" Using a marker to circle the external parts on the list the mini-lesson will begin.

Mini-Lesson (15 minutes): The teacher divides a blank piece of poster paper into two sections labeled, "External"(outside) and "Internal"(inside). On the external side of the poster an outline of a student in uniform will be traced in three colors. Three cards labeled head, chest and abdomen will be presented to the class. Three different students will place them on the chart where they think it should go. The teacher defines to students that external means outside and internal means inside. The teacher uses reinforces, small tickets that have pictures of lesson vocabulary or body systems, to encourage use of these words when sharing ideas. The teacher points out to students how these three parts of the body are separated: the neck separates the head from the chest and the diaphragm separates the abdomen from the chest. The teacher tells students that you have created a diagram or picture with labels of the external parts of the body. Using the list created other labels will be added to the chart. Explain the task to be completed at their desk. 1. Label a diagram of the external parts of the body. Students must include the three parts discussed in the mini-lesson. 2. Create a diagram of the inside of your body.

Model: Explain that the diaphragm is an internal part of the body. Have students inhale deep to show the space between the chest and abdomen expands. Using the second outline of the student body on the poster, draw the location of the diaphragm. Ask students, "What do you think is on the inside of your head?" Tell students it is ok to shout out the answer? Brain Processing aloud draw what you think the brain looks like.

Independent Practice: 1. Label a diagram of the external parts of the body. 2. Create a diagram of the inside of your body. 3. Write any new questions that come up in your notebook.

Summary: Revisit the words external, internal, and diaphragm with students and post each word on a vocabulary word grid to stay on the wall throughout the unit.

Activity - Stomach In A Bag

Standards: 1.3G Identify major internal and external body parts and their functions

Objective: Demonstrate how the stomach works in the digestive system

Warm Up: Ask students to discuss with partners "How does your stomach work?"

Mini-Lesson: Read "Guts: Our Digestive System" by Simon, Seymour or a similar text. Tell students today we will enjoy the treat of a smoothie. Setup a blender then add in lemon juice, strawberries and bananas. Tell students today you will take part in an experiment to show the stomach works to break down food to be used by the body. Remind students that food is of no use to the human body until it is broken down. Explain that as you eat the stomach has gastric juices inside that help to break the food down. Lemon juice in the smoothie represents these juices. Sliced up food represents the chewed food. Tell students that their hands will be use to represent the muscles that contract to mix the contents of the stomach.

Activity: Pass out large Ziploc bags to all students. Next add in foods described above making sure to release as much air as possible. Have students drop the small bag into the larger bag and lay flat on the table to get the air out. Using a timer, have students squeeze the bag for 1-2 minutes and observe. Lead students in a discussion about how we get nutrients from food. Have students remove the small bag from the larger bag to closely observe the change.

Individual Task: In science notebooks students are to record their observations using pictures and words.

Lesson Two

Objective: Introduce students to the structure and function of the central nervous system.

Key Question: How does your body know what to do?

Warm Up: Give students a number of simple directions to follow such as: Raise your hand. Touch the top of your head then wave at me. Make a silly face. Post the key question for students to discuss and answer in their science notebooks. Record student ideas on the board. Expect students to respond with misconceptions of: "It just knows already. I just think it and my body does it." These will be clarified as the unit progresses. Next, call students by team to gather tissue paper - 2 gray, 1 cream, 1 blue.

Mini-Lesson: Give students the following directions: Take 1 gray sheet and crumple it so that it fits into both hands. Lay the 2 ^nd piece flat and begin to fold is horizontally (side to side) so that it looks like a fan when you are done. Next, take the cream colored sheet and twist it into a long structure. Using the blue sheet of tissue paper carefully make small strips by tearing the tissue then roll it between your hands or on your desk until it looks like a thin worm.

Once all tissue pieces have been created have each student place their tissue in the box that matches the colors they have. Make sure students cannot see into or through the box or bag. Once they are seated on the carpet tell students that tissues in the body that are the same get together to form "organs". These organs work together to form a system in the body. "We will study one of these systems today." Tell students the name of the system is the central nervous system. Reach into the bag or box and reveal the organ created by all the tissues. Gray - Brain, Cream - Spinal Cord, and Blue - Nerves

Assemble the pieces the students have created to make a class model of the central nervous system. As you affix the tissue pieces together explain the function of each organ to students. Label the model with vocabulary words and descriptions of functions from the mini-book students will create.

Independent Activity: Students partner up to practice reading segments of the mini-book. After reading text students will color the images according to the information in the text of the book. Finally, students need to make one horizontal cut through each page to separate pages to be assembled into a mini-book.

Lesson Three: "Get The Message, Send A Response"

Standards: Nutrition and Physical Activity 1.3G Identify major internal and external body parts and their functions.

Objective: Introduced the students to how messages are sent and received by neurons. Students will build individual neurons and the class will construct a network to show our understanding.

Warm up: Pose the following questions for students to answer. "What happens when you touch something that is very hot?" Students should respond with the motion of jerking quickly to move away quickly. Ask, "Why is it important to react fast in situation like that?"

Mini-Lesson: Using the class model of the central nervous system point out how components of the nervous system work together to transmit signals very quickly. Reflex responses are especially fast because the signal from the nerves can be sent directly to the muscles through the spinal cord without passing through the brain first. Next ask students to respond to simple math problems and identify shapes. "What is 2 + 2? Who many fingers do you have? What shape has only three sides? What shape is completely round? Then follow up these questions with, "Did it take a long time for your brain to figure out the answers? Did it take a long time for your brain to send the message to your lips to respond? Did it take your brain a long time to make your raise your hand because you knew the answer?" Explain to students that the CNS is working together very rapidly all the time.

Display a picture of a neuron. Tell student that this is one kind of neuron in our body but there are many different kinds in the body. All neurons are designed to carry messages through out the body. Here is how it is done! Point out the "message-collector" parts (dendrites and cell body) and the "message-giver" parts on the two neurons displayed. Tell the students that the fatty bead-like structures are called myelin sheaths and they protect the axon and speed up message delivery.

Model: Using wave-like motions or a dance move popularly know as the snake, demonstrate this action using yourself as the neuron. Pretend to receive a message in your right hand, and then move your arms and chest in a wave-like motion toward your left hand being careful to point out, messages are sent in one direction. Model this with one other student and pass a message on to them. Allow students 3 minutes to try it out.

Class Activity: Play the class game of telephone. Open the classroom door. Have students line up arm length apart. Whisper to one student, "Shut the door" while giving them a piece of yarn. As the message is passed the students must pass the yarn and the verbal message. Demonstrate the function of the myelin sheath by tapping a student and letting them skip the line to deliver the message to move it to the end faster. Repeat as needed to demonstrate the concept, again emphasizing the vocabulary and location of the dendrite, cell body and axon. Show students that the messages always come in to the dendrite and messages are given by the axon.

Next show students photos of different neurons as well as a network of neurons to show how they work together. Show students the short video on nerve impulses from book The Human Body Book, by Steve Parker

Guided Practice: Pass out a student copy of two neurons and have them complete it. Make sure that student understand that messages flow in one direction only through each neuron. Once they have complete the page accurately it is to be pasted into their science notebooks.

Independent Practice: Provide different materials for students to create their own neurons. Explain to students that their notes are flat (2D) but in reality neurons have different shapes in (3D). Redirect student to their science notebooks (two neurons page) as a resource if they get stuck.

Summary: At he end of this lesson provide masking tape to students to create short myelin sheaths segments along the axon for their nerve cells. Using their models, ask students to identify the "message-collectors" (dendrites and cell body), and the "message-giver" (axon).

Optional: Display the completed models individually or place them together to create a network of neurons for a class display.