The evolution of brains of all sizes and types
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Alignment
3-LS4-2. Use evidence to construct an explanation for how the variations in characteristics among individuals of the same species may provide advantages in surviving, finding mates, and reproducing.
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 learn that are many sizes and types of brain.
-Students become familiar with the fundamental functional unit for all brains is the brain cell or neuron.
-Students learn that evolutionary pressure makes different bodies/brains.
Discussion Questions
1. Are animals “smart”?
2. Do you think human and mouse brains work the same way?
3. What’s special about brain cells?
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Vocabulary
Nervous system: part of an animal body that receives and interpret information from the five senses, and responds to these stimuli with action plans; in humans and other vertebrates, it includes the brain, the spinal cord and the nerves
Brain: an organ located in the skull of human and other vertebrates, that serves as the control center for the nervous system.
Spinal Cord: a thick bundle of nerves and brain cells that extends from the brain down through the cavity of the backbone and connects with nerves throughout the body to carry information to and from the brain.
Organ: A collection of tissues organized in a structure that perform a specific function.
Tissue: a group of cells that work together to carry out a specific function (neurons in the brain work together to form neural tissue)
Cells: The smallest unit of living organisms that has the basic properties of life. Humans are made up of trillions of cells
Neurons: brain cells responsible for sending and receiving messages. The brain’s post office!
Neuronal network: A community of neurons communicating with each other by sending and receiving messages
Signalling: the process of sending messages from one part of the brain to another, or from the brain to the body and vice versa
Olfaction: the action of smelling
Olfactory bulb: a part of your brain that perceives smells like fresh baked cookies or the dirty subway!
Model organism: non-human species that is studied extensively; discoveries made studying a model organisms can be applied to other organisms, or help understand a larger biological issue
Review
The brain cell, or neuron, is responsible for sending and receiving messages.
We can look at the brain as an organ when we are very zoomed out. By zooming in we can look at the tissues that make up the brain. If we zoom in even further, we can see brain cells.
While different brains may be different sizes, like a mouse brain and a human brain, when you zoom in, the cells work in the same way!
