How can brains be so different?
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Alignment
LS1-2 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Discussion Questions
1. What does your brain do for you?
2. How do you think the shapes and jobs of the brains of other animals are different or similar to the shape and job of the human brain?
Video 1
Vocabulary
1. Anatomy - the structure, shape, and form of the body or parts of the body
2. Physiology - the way that a living organism or the systems in a living organism function
3. Comparative biology - the study of how organisms are similar and different from one another
4. Preservation - a group of different processes that biologists can use to prevent dead organisms or parts of organisms from decaying or breaking down
Video 2
Review
1. Brains come in diverse shapes and sizes, and the characteristics of an organism’s brain can reflect how an organism is adapted to survive in its habitat
2. Even though brains are diverse, they have many features in common; we can learn a lot about brains by comparing the brains of different species
3. Nervous systems are important to an organism’s survival because they control, coordinate, and respond to body functions.
4. Nervous systems control, coordinate, and direct animal behavior
