Investigate brain diseases: ALS and MS
(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis)
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Alignment
4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
Learning Outcomes
- Students become familiar with different types of neurological diseases, understand why they occur, and understand how this affects people with the disease.
- Students learn how the brain controls the muscles.
- Students learn about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Multiple Sclerosis.
Discussion Questions
1. What is ALS? What is MS?
2. What happens when brain cells get damaged?
3. What happens if the brain cannot talk to the muscles?
4. How can scientists and doctors work together to help people with brain diseases?
Video 1
Video 2
Vocabulary
Neuron: brain cells responsible for sending and receiving messages. The brain’s post office!
Axon: the part of a neuron that carries information away from the cell body (output); axons are like electrical cables that connect neurons with each other and with muscles
Motor neurons: a neuron that connects the central nervous system with a muscle and sends an impulse that causes movement.
Insulation: to cover, line, or separate with a material that prevents or reduces leakage of something; for example, most electric cables are insulated by wrapping them with sheets of plastic or rubber that prevent electrical leakage and protect the wires
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): a disease that affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This disease gets worse over time.
Multiple Sclerosis (MS): a disease in which the body's immune system attacks healthy cells in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).
Spine trauma: damage to the spinal cord caused by an injury.
Carpal tunnel syndrome: A loss of feeling and tingling in the hand and arm caused by a pinched nerve in the wrist.
Review
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease where the body’s immune system attacks the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis is a disease that affects the motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord. This disease gets worse over time.
