COLEGIO EKIRAYÁ

EDUCACIÓN MONTESSORI
SUBJECT: INTEGRATED SCIENCE
TYPE OF GUIDE: ACTIVITY
TERM THIRD MAX. NUMBER OF PERIODS 4 CODE W3.8.5

Nervous system LAB

The nervous system is responsible for coordinating all of the body's activities.
It controls not only the maintenance of normal functions but also the body's
ability to cope with emergency situations. One example of this is the reflexes.
These reactions are necessary for the body to escape for dangerous
circumstances or for quick actions. The reflex movements are involuntary and
are extremely fast because the signal must travel from the zone of impact to
the brain and again to a specific muscle to react. The more you know about
the nervous system, the better you understand how it works.

A reflex is an involuntary movement to a stimulus. It is a relatively simple (but

critical) way your body relays information that never reaches conscious
awareness. Most of us take a lot of what the body does for us for granted,
and that’s a good thing. It would be extremely difficult to have to plan and
actively execute every tiny movement we make. As you read this, subtle
readjustments are constantly being made between the muscles of your
spine and torso to keep you in balance. Your eyes make tiny readjustments
for every shift of your head. Your pupils dilate appropriately to adjust to the
level of light and to focus on what’s in front of you. When you swallow, your
throat automatically closes off your airway to prevent saliva from going
down the wrong tube. Each breath you take automatically readjusts to
provide the right balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood, as
well as taking deeper breaths now and then to keep the lungs open.

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06/03/19
 COLEGIO EKIRAYÁ
EDUCACIÓN MONTESSORI
SUBJECT: INTEGRATED SCIENCE
TYPE OF GUIDE: ACTIVITY
TERM THIRD MAX. NUMBER OF PERIODS 4 CODE W3.8.5

ACTIVITY

In groups, you are going to see how fast is the reflex

movement of the knee. You will be provided with a
special hammer for hitting the knee nerve, and a
metric tape. With the metric tape you will have to
measure the distance from the knee (nerve) to the
head (brain). With the hammer you will have to hit
the knee to create a reflex movement. It is
extremely important that the hammer is only used
for this, because it can break really easy. Also, you
must be careful while hitting your friend´s knee, you
are hitting a nerve and you can harm him/her.

As a procedure, you will have to repeat

at least three times on each member of
the group, and it must always be with the
same strength and at the same spot.
After this is done, you must write the data
and do a complete lab report.
Remember to do a deep research for the
introduction and the analysis, as well as
to calculate the speed of the reflex
movement.

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06/03/19
 COLEGIO EKIRAYÁ
EDUCACIÓN MONTESSORI
SUBJECT: INTEGRATED SCIENCE
TYPE OF GUIDE: ACTIVITY
TERM THIRD MAX. NUMBER OF PERIODS 4 CODE W3.8.5

R EFERENCES
https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chreflex.html
http://humanphysiology.academy/Neurosciences%202015/Chapter%202/P.2.2%20Spinal%20Reflexes.
html
https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-a-reflex-2488718
https://www.ck12.org/book/Human-Biology-Nervous-System/section/5.1/

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