Guided Practice Worksheets Answer Key

Neurons: The Nerve Cell

Florida State Standard SC.912.L.14.22: Describe the physiology of nerve conduction, including
generator potential, action potential and the synapse.

Learning Objectives: Students will be able to:

1. Identify and label the parts of a neuron/nerve cell
2. Demonstrate understanding of how nerve cells transmit information to other nerve cells
3. Identify different types of neurons and their functions
Vocabulary Words
Action potential Exocytosis Nucleus
Afferent neuron Generator potential Oligodendrocytes
Axon Glia Pinocytosis
Axon hillock Ion Receptors
Axon terminal Ion channel Repolarization
Cell body Myelin sheath Resting potential
Cytoplasm Nerve conduction Schwann cell
Dendrites Neuron Synapse
Depolarization Neurotransmitter Synaptic cleft
Efferent neuron Nodes of Ranvier Synaptic vesicle
Endocytosis

Parts of a Nerve Cell

Cell body/soma Nodes of Ranvier Axon
Nucleus Myelin sheath Axon terminals
Axon hillock Dendrites Na+ & K+ ion channels

Answer Keys
Guided Practice………………... p. 2
Independent Practice……….. p. 5
Vocabulary………………………. p. 6
Assessment……………………… p. 8

Diagram of a nerve cell

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 Guided Practice Worksheets Answer Key

Via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) – modified image

Diagram of Synapse

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 Guided Practice Worksheets Answer Key

Graph of Nerve Conduction, Generator Potential, and Action Potential

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 Guided Practice Worksheets Answer Key

Various authors, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

How a Nerve Cell Transmits Information to other Nerve Cells

1. First, information is received from the end of one nerve cell to the dendrites of another
nerve cell.
2. Second, electrochemical impulses are transmitted to the axon hillock and move along
the axon of the nerve cell.
3. Third, the electrochemical impulses reach the axon terminals, where neurotransmitters
are released at the tips.

Electrochemical Impulses along the Axon in more Detail:

1. When the neuron is at a resting state, it has a negative charge of -70 millivolts.
2. When the neuron receives the electrical impulses from the dendrites, it transmits the
information to the axon hillock and continues along the axon to the axon terminals.
3. Electrochemical impulses are transmitted along the axon using sodium Na+ and
potassium K+ ion channels along the axon’s membrane. For every three Na+ ions
entering the electrochemical gradient, two K+ ions come out. Depolarization occurs.
4. When the inside of the cell contains more positive ions, or if enough positive ions enter
the cell, it reaches its action potential of about +40 millivolts.

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 Guided Practice Worksheets Answer Key

5. After the electrochemical charge in the cell reaches its action potential, repolarization
occurs where the inside of the nerve cell has a negative charge again and goes back to
its resting potential.
6. The electrical signals transmit from node to node, specifically, at the Nodes of Ranvier,
between the myelin sheaths, where a salutatory conduction occurs (jumping impulse).

Transfer of Information to the Axon terminals and Synapse in More Detail:

4. After the electrochemical impulses reach the end of the axon, they travel to the axon
terminal/nerve terminal, where neurotransmitters are released at the synaptic cleft
(the space between the axon terminal/nerve terminal and the dendrites of another
nerve cell). This is where the synapse occurs.
5. A synapse is the transfer of information from one neuron to another. When the signals
are transferred from the first to the second neuron, the neurotransmitters bind to
receptor molecules. There is a specific receptor for each type of neurotransmitter; this is
known as the “lock and key” model.
6. Neurotransmitters are stored in the vesicles at the axon terminals, waiting to be
released.
7. Exocytosis occurs with the release of neurotransmitters, endocytosis occurs when
binding to the receptors, and pinocytosis occurs when part of the cell pinches off and
takes in the vesicle.

Sources:
 MedlinePlus Medical Dictionary
 Medical Dictionary - TheFreeDictionary

1. Action potential: a momentary reversal in the potential difference across a plasma

membrane (as of a nerve cell or muscle fiber) that occurs when a cell has been activated by
a stimulus 
2. Afferent Neuron: a neuron that conducts sensory impulses toward the brain or spinal cord.

3. Axon: a usually long and single nerve-cell process that usually conducts impulses away from
the cell body 
4. Axon hillock: the prominence on a nerve-cell body from which an axon arises 
5. Axon terminal: the ending of an axon which releases neurotransmitters onto a synaptic
space near another neurons, muscle cell or gland. 
6. Cell body: the nucleus-containing central part of a neuron exclusive of its axons and
dendrites that is the major structural element of the gray matter of the brain and spinal
cord, the ganglia, and the retina. 
7. Cytoplasm: the organized complex of inorganic and organic substances external to the
nuclear membrane of a cell and including the cytosol and membrane-bound organelles (as
mitochondria or chloroplasts). 
8. Dendrites: any of the usually branching protoplasmic processes that conduct impulses
toward the body of a nerve cell. 

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9. Depolarization: loss of polarization; especially : loss of the difference in charge between the
inside and outside of the plasma membrane of a muscle or nerve cell due to a change in
permeability and migration of sodium ions to the interior. 
10. Efferent neuron: A neuron whose axon carries motor impulses away from the brain or
spinal cord. 
11. Endocytosis: incorporation of substances into a cell by phagocytosis or pinocytosis. 
12. Exocytosis: the release of cellular substances (as secretory products) contained in cell
vesicles by fusion of the vesicular membrane with the plasma membrane and subsequent
release of the contents to the exterior of the cell. 
13. Generator potential: stationary depolarization of a receptor that occurs in response to a
stimulus and is graded according to its intensity and that results in an action potential when
the appropriate threshold is reached. 
14. Glia: supporting tissue that is intermingled with the essential elements of nervous tissue
especially in the brain, spinal cord, and ganglia, is either of ectodermal or mesodermal
origin, and is composed of a network of fine fibrils and of flattened stellate cells with
numerous radiating fibrillar processes. 
15. Ion: an atom or group of atoms that carries a positive or negative electric charge as a result
of having lost or gained one or more electrons 
16. Ion channel: a cell membrane channel that is selectively permeable to certain ions (as of
calcium or sodium). 
17. Myelin sheath: the insulating covering that surrounds an axon with multiple spiral layers of
myelin, that is discontinuous at the nodes of Ranvier, and that increases the speed at which
a nerve impulse can travel along an axon 
18. Nerve conduction: the transmission of an impulse along a nerve fiber. 
19. Neuron: one of the cells that constitute nervous tissue, that have the property of
transmitting and receiving nervous impulses, and that are composed of somewhat reddish
or grayish protoplasm with a large nucleus containing a conspicuous nucleolus, irregular
cytoplasmic granules, and cytoplasmic processes which are highly differentiated frequently
as multiple dendrites or usually as solitary axons and which conduct impulses toward and
away from the nerve cell body. 
20. Neurotransmitter: a substance (as norepinephrine or acetylcholine) that transmits nerve
impulses across a synapse. 
21. Nodes of Ranvier: a small gap in the myelin sheath of a myelinated nerve fiber. 
22. Nucleus: a cellular organelle of eukaryotes that is essential to cell functions (as
reproduction and protein synthesis), is composed of nuclear sap and a nucleoprotein-rich
network from which chromosomes and nucleoli arise, and is enclosed in a definite
membrane. 
23. Oligodendrocytes: a glial cell resembling an astrocyte but smaller with few and slender
processes having few branches. 
24. Pinocytosis: the uptake of fluid and dissolved substances by a cell by invagination and
pinching off of the cell membrane. 
25. Receptors: a cellular entity (as a beta-receptor or alpha-receptor) that is a postulated
intermediary between a chemical agent (as a neurohormone) acting on nervous tissue and
the physiological or pharmacological response. 

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26. Repolarization: restoration of the difference in charge between the inside and outside of
the plasma membrane of a muscle fiber or cell following depolarization. 
27. Resting potential: the membrane potential of a cell that is not exhibiting the activity
resulting from a stimulus 
28. Schwann cell: a cell that forms spiral layers around a myelinated nerve fiber between two
nodes of Ranvier and forms the myelin sheath consisting of the inner spiral layers from
which the protoplasm has been squeezed out. 
29. Synapse: the place at which a nervous impulse passes from one neuron to another. 
30. Synaptic Cleft: the space between neurons at a nerve synapse across which a nerve impulse
is transmitted by a neurotransmitter. 
31. Synaptic vesicle: a small secretory vesicle that contains a neurotransmitter, is found inside
an axon near the presynaptic membrane, and releases its contents into the synaptic cleft
after fusing with the membrane. 

Write the definition for each term. (8 points)

1. Neuron – also called a nerve cell, it is the cell of the nervous system which transmits
information through electrochemical charges throughout the body in order for the body
to function as a whole unit
2. Nerve conduction – electrochemical impulses along a nerve fiber
3. Generator potential – the depolarization of electrochemical impulses that ignite an
action potential
4. Action potential – where electrochemical impulses are depolarized to its limit, and then
repolarized back to its resting potential
5. Synapse – where electrochemical impulses from one nerve cell are transmitted to
another nerve cell through the release of neurotransmitters from one nerve cell to the
receptors of another nerve cell

Mark each as True or False (10 points)

6. True Information is first transmitted to the dendrites of a nerve cell.
7. False Afferent neurons move away from the brain.
8. False Efferent neuron move towards the brain.
9. True A human’s resting potential is about -70 millivolts.
10. True A human reaches their action potential at about +40 millivolts.
11. False For every 2 K+ ions that enter the membrane, 2 Na+ go out.

Written Response (20 points)

Describe how the nerve cell transmits information to another nerve cell from beginning to end.
Use the following terms in your description: dendrites, axon, axon hillock, myelin sheath, Nodes
of Ranvier, Sodium ions, Potassium ions, positive charge, negative charge, resting potential,
action potential, depolarization, repolarization, axon terminal, neurotransmitters, synaptic cleft,
synapse, receptors, and vesicles.

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 Guided Practice Worksheets Answer Key

First, information is received at the dendrites of the nerve cell. Second, the information
is transmitted by electrochemical impulses, and they travel to the axon hillock where a
generator potential occurs through depolarization. Through depolarization the
electrochemical impulses reaches their action potential, repolarization occurs and
continues along the axon. Third, along the axon, electrochemical impulses travel along an
electrochemical gradient. This electrochemical gradient consists of the axon having a
negative charge on the inside.

Fourth, electrochemical impulses are transmitted along the axon using sodium Na+ and
potassium K+ ion channels along the cell membrane of the axon. For every 3 sodium ions
entering the electrochemical gradient, 2 potassium ions come out. Depolarization occurs.
Furthermore, when the inside of the axon has a positive charge because contains more
positive ions, it reaches its action potential to about +40 millivolts. After the
electrochemical charge in the cell reaches its action potential, repolarization occurs
where the inside of the nerve has a negative charge again and goes back to its resting
potential to about -70 millivolts.

Sixth, the electrical signals transmit from node to node, specifically, at the Nodes of
Ranvier, between the myelin sheaths, where a salutatory conduction occurs (jumping
impulses).

Seventh, after the electrical impulses reach the end of the axon, they travel to the axon
terminal/nerve terminal where neurotransmitters are released at the synaptic cleft (the
space between the axon terminal/nerve terminal and the dendrites of another nerve
cell). This is where the synapse occurs. A synapse is the transfer of information from one
neuron to another. When the signals are transferred from first to the second neuron, the
neurotransmitters bind to receptor molecules. There is a specific receptor for each type
of neurotransmitter; this refers to the “lock and key” model. Neurotransmitters are
stored in the vesicles at the axon terminal/nerve terminal waiting to be released.

Diagrams: 13-15
See the guided practice answer key for labeled diagrams.

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