Unit Overview

Students explore the nervous system as control center discovering how brain, spinal cord, and nerves transmit electrical signals. Through animated journeys following neural pathways or investigating reflex response mechanisms, conducting reaction time experiments measuring stimulus-response delays and building neuron models showing signal transmission, and engineering assistive technologies for neurological conditions, students learn how nervous system coordinates all body functions and protects from harm.

  • Lesson 1
    Lesson 1: Solve: Sport Concussion + Bat Echolocation Mystery

    Solve: Sport Concussion + Bat Echolocation Mystery

    Otis the bat has echolocation down to a science—send a signal, wait for the bounce, catch the prey. But one tiger moth keeps escaping, no matter what he tries. Mosa Mack travels right to the source: inside Otis's nervous system. Students follow as she traces how signals travel from sensory neurons through the spinal cord to the brain and back to muscles. By the end, they can explain how the nervous system senses, processes, and responds—and uncover why Bert the moth's secret trick keeps jamming Otis's signal.

  • Lesson 2
    Lesson 2: Make: Lab Stations: Experience the Nervous System

    Make: Lab Stations: Experience the Nervous System

    Four hands-on stations turn students into reaction-time scientists. They measure pupil dilation, test blink reflexes, drop rulers to calculate visual and auditory response speeds, then compare their data to Usain Bolt's record-breaking sprint times. By the end, students create visual models mapping exactly how signals race from sensory receptors through neurons to the spinal cord and brain—discovering why some responses happen in milliseconds while others take conscious thought.

  • Lesson 3
    Lesson 3: Engineer: Engineer a Solution to a Nervous System Problem

    Engineer: Engineer a Solution to a Nervous System Problem

    What if your nervous system malfunctioned? Students choose one real nervous system disorder (like paralysis, nerve damage, or sensory loss), research how the signal pathway breaks down, then engineer a solution—either a device to restore function or a tool to manage symptoms. They sketch technical drawings, build prototypes, and present their designs. It's biomedical engineering meets neuroscience, complete with real-world problem-solving.

  • Next Generation Science Standards
    MS-LS1-8
    Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories. [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include mechanisms for the transmission of this information.]
  • Inquiry Scale
    • Each lesson in the unit has an Inquiry Scale that provides directions on how to implement the lesson at the level that works best for you and your students.
    • “Level 1” is the most teacher-driven, and recommended for students in 4th-5th grades. “Level 4” is the most student-driven, and recommended for students in 7th-8th grades.
    • For differentiation within the same grade or class, use different inquiry levels for different groups of students who may require additional support or an extra challenge.
  • Common Misconceptions
    • Students tend to think that responses to stimuli are immediate, because their perception of these responses is so quick. Emphasize to students using the Make lab stations that a signal must travel through a chain of connected neurons and while quick, this does take time.
    • Relatedly, students may think that when the body encounters a stimulus, a message is sent straight to the brain. Emphasize to students through the Solve and Make that our nervous system is made up of many connected neurons and these must each pass the message to the next in order for it to eventually reach the brain.
    • Students tend to believe that our eyes see out into the world. Rather, information from the outside world, a stimulus, enters the eye and thus we actually “see in” (see in a receptive process). This can be emphasized through the pupil dilation Make lab station.
    • Once students learn the nervous system pathway, some students assume that all pathways are the same and the brain must be involved in all of them. Emphasize that some nerve responses, namely a reflex, only go through the spinal cord, which is why they happen so quickly.
  • Vocabulary
      • Brain
      • Nervous System
      • Sensory Neuron
      • Signal
      • Spinal Cord
      • Stimulus
  • Content Expert
    • Aaron Corcoran, Ph.D.
      Wake Forest University
  • Leveled Reading

    * To give our users the most comprehensive science resource, Mosa Mack is piloting a partnership with RocketLit, a provider of leveled science articles.

    • Reflex

      In this article, students are introduced to how reflexes work in the body. The process starts with sensory neurons that sense stimuli and connect with interneurons to decide what to do. Motor neurons are activated without the brain's involvement in a reflex, because action is needed before any thoughts or associations need to be accessed. OUCH THAT HURTS MOVE NOW!

Mosa Mack Science

It looks like you don't have a Mosa Mack account.


Create a free account