Name _______________KEY___________

The Neuron – Informal Points

Introduction
You are waiting to cross the street at a busy intersection. All of a sudden, two cars collide right in front of you.
Your hands instantaneously fly up to shield your face. You hear the horrible crunch of metal. You smell the
burning rubber of tires and you open your eyes to see the skid marks on the road. Reaching for your cell
phone, you dial 911. Your heart races as you run out in the street to see if you can be of any help. So much is
happening at one time, you feel like your brain is on overload.

Just how does your nervous system deal with so much information at one time? Did you realize that a big part
of communication between and within human body systems is electrical in nature? Without it, body processes
would shut down, starting with your heartbeat! You should remember from PBS that your heart beats when an
electrical signal moves through the atria and ventricles. When a heart is failing and this electrical signal is
weak or nonexistent, doctors can “shock” the heart back into rhythm with a blast of electricity.

But the heart is not the only organ of the body that communicates through electrical signals. Cells and tissues
throughout the body “talk” to one another electrically. A superhighway of nerves moves impulses around the
body allowing us to process stimuli and make an appropriate response. Electrical signals travel in paths that
take information to and from the brain and spinal cord. These signals allow the nervous system to react
quickly while at the same time processing a great deal of sensory information.

The nervous system interacts with all other systems in the body and reacts to thousands of different stimuli on
a minute to minute basis. Specialized cells called neurons work together to respond to these stimuli, process
the information and produce an appropriate response.

In your brain alone, you have as many as 100 billion neurons. But, don’t brag. An octopus has on average
300 billion neurons in its brain. Your neurons vary greatly in size, from as small as 4 microns to as large as
nearly one meter. But, if you were to line up all the neurons in your body in a straight line, the line would be
about 600 miles long. Communication within and between your systems is dependent upon these neurons.
The structure of these specialized cells is uniquely linked to their function of moving information around the
body.

In this activity, you will investigate the structure and function of neurons. There are three general types of
neurons, distinguished by the direction they transmit impulses. You will create models or drawings of the
three types of neurons: sensory neurons, motor neurons and association neurons (sometimes called
interneurons). You will also investigate how they work together to send messages in the body. By writing job
descriptions for each type of neuron, you will investigate the function of these cells. Using your knowledge of
neuron communication, you will then create a flow chart that outlines what goes on in the body from an initial
stimulus to a response. In later activities, you learn how the movement of ions in the membrane of these
neurons generates and sends out a deliverable impulse.
Procedure
Part I: Basic Neuron Design
1. Investigate the structure and function of three different types of neurons. Use anatomy reference textbooks,
the sites listed below or other reliable sites you might find to complete the activity.
o The Human Nervous System - BiologyMad
http://www.biologymad.com/NervousSystem/nervoussystemintro.htm
o How Your Brain Works- Dr. Craig Freudenrich http://www.howstuffworks.com/brain.htm
o Get Body Smart: An Online Examination of Human Anatomy and Physiology
http://www.getbodysmart.com/ap/nervoussystem/nervecells/menu/menu.html
2. Vertically position a piece of cardstock paper on the desk in front of you. Using a ruler, draw a line through the
middle of the board horizontally. You now have a top half and a bottom half.
3. Using your ruler, draw a vertical line through the bottom half creating two boxes of equal size, on the bottom
half of the poster. You now have one large section and two smaller ones on the poster board.
4. Title this, “Design of a Neuron.”
5. Using your Internet research as a guide, draw a model of a motor neuron on the top portion of the paper. The
design should be relatively simple, but you must include or describe all of the following structures in your model:

o Cell membrane
o Cell body
o Nucleus
o Dendrites
o Axon
o Axon terminals
o Myelin sheath
o Nodes of Ranvier
o Synapse
o Neurotransmitters

6. Label each structure and describe its function directly on the cardstock or make a separate key.
7. Draw an arrow under the neuron that follows the direction the impulse will travel.
8. Write a sentence that describes the overall function of this type of neuron either on the cardstock or on your
separate key. Make sure to add the title “Motor Neuron” to this drawing.
9. In the smaller box on the bottom left, use a marker to draw a sensory neuron. Label key anatomy and
describe the function directly on the cardstock or by making a separate key.
10. Make sure to add the title this neuron the “Sensory Neuron.”
11. In the smaller box on the right draw an association neuron or interneuron. Label key anatomy and describe
the function directly on the cardstock or by making a separate key.
12. Note that neurons can also be classified by their structure as unipolar, bipolar or multipolar. Research the
difference between these terms and fill in the table below to describe. On your card stock or on your keys, note if
the neurons you created on your cardstock would be classified as unipolar, bipolar, multipolar or as a combination
of types.
13.
Neuron Type Description
have only one process from the cell body. However, that single, very short, process splits
into longer processes (a dendrite plus an axon). Unipolar neurons are sensory neurons -
conducting impulses into the central nervous system.
 Unipolar

have two processes - one axon & one dendrite.

Bipolar

a type of neuron that possesses a single (usually long) axon and many dendrites, allowing for the
integration of a great deal of information from other neurons. These dendritic branches
can also emerge from the nerve cell body.
Multipolar

Part II: Relaying the Message

Imagine that you just spotted a huge cockroach. Depending on your personal feelings about insects, your first
thought might be to run away, to step on it, or to pick it up and set it free. Either way, you need to get the message
to travel to your foot or your hand.
14. On cardstock, create a flow chart showing what happens in the body and the nervous system from the
moment you see this bug.
15. Using what you have learned about the structure and function of neurons, outline the order of events that get
your desired result(s). How does information from the outside world cause a response from your body?
16. Include the terms listed below in your flow chart. You may wish to add additional items to show multiple
responses of the body.
o Motor neurons
o Sensory neurons
o Association neurons
o An eye
o A cockroach
o A leg or an arm
o The brain or central nervous system
17. Optional: Include a picture for each item on your flow chart. You could draw these or find pictures on the
Internet, print and paste.
18. Add linking words on each of the arrows between steps. Describe the connection between each item.
19. Add a title to your flow chart.

Conclusion Questions
1. Describe the path of an electrical impulse as it moves through a neuron. You must use the words axon,
axon terminal, dendrites, myelin sheath, nodes of Ranvier, synapse and neurotransmitters in your
description.

The nerve impulses start in the dendrites then moves down the axon starting in the axon. Nerve impulses speed up the myelin
sheath. Then through the nodes of ranvier speeding up action potential then at the axon terminal the electrical impulse goes
through the synapse through electrical then chemical with neurotransmitters and electrical again back to a dendrite.

2. Describe one way in which neurons are similar to other cells in the body and one way in which they are
different.
Neurons are similar to other cells because neurons have a cell membrane, a nucleus, cytoplasm, mitochondria,
organelles, and carry out processes such as energy production.

3. In this activity, you read that there are billions of neurons in the human body that vary in size and
somewhat in structure. Suggest and then support a reason why the body needs so many neurons.
The more complex the function the more neurons it takes to carry it out, for example, the brain stem and spinal cord have
a large mass of neurons compared to nerves in your arms and legs everything flows back to the spinal column to the
brain where it processes the data.
20. How does the structure of each type of neuron relate to its function in the nervous system?
helps it process signals and know how to carry out functions from all the senses interneurons structure allow them to
communicate between dendrites and axons which is their job

21. How do you think a person would be affected if myelin on his/her neurons was damaged or destroyed?
Explain.
If the myelin sheath is damaged then the speed of impulses transmission would be slowed causing decreased function of
the affected area.

22. Reread the first paragraph of the Introduction. Describe the types of stimuli your body is reacting to as well as
the decisions you have to make. Do you think about each of your responses or do they just seem to happen?
During the moments of the accident your body is sensing a great deal of stimuli. In time of panic your body will produce
large amounts of adrenaline which will heighten the bodies reception to stimuli while also increasing the heart rate.
At these moments a person will feel a fight or flight sensation in which they would either run away from the
accident or toward the accident in a panic to help someone.