The Human Body Systems
Theme: Who we are
Central idea: Humans are an intricate system that needs care.
The focus of this unit was for students to learn basic systems of the human body, how these systems are interconnected, and how they can take responsibility for their own body. Students were taught the basic function and organs involved in seven body systems – skeletal, muscular, digestive, excretory, respiratory, circulatory, and nervous – through videos, diagrams, and graphic organizers. Students kept this work in a stepbook with a page devoted to each body system. Although it was too large to paste in the stepbook, when learning the skeletal system, students were given a paper skeleton to cut out, reassemble, and label with four main joints and four major bones along with the organ each bone helps protect. Students used their Sciencesaurus as a resource when completing this formative assessment.
Finally, students used their stepbooks, Sciencesaurus, reference books, and online resources to complete the summative assessment for this unit: each student was randomly assigned a body system to research and write an essay about. While completing their research, students had to put their work into an outline that followed a specific format – fun facts, system function(s), connections to other systems, diseases, keeping it healthy, and a self-reflection – that aligned with a rubric. After the outlines were proofread, each student had to write a final draft of their essay by hand.
Please read through the featured students' informational reports below:
Messages Bringer – The Nervous System
by Kyla Chen 陳亮妤, Grade Five student
Do you know the center of nervous system, brain’s cerebellum, is about the size of tennis ball? When the brain gives a message to your body the message travels as electric signals out to every part
of your body. You even can feel the bumps on the back of your neck, they are your spine.
The function of the nervous system is to let you feel things. Your brain, spinal cord and sense organs are all a part of nervous system. The brain is the head-quarter of the nervous system. Your brain and spinal cord control how you respond to the information, and tell your body what to do. It makes you stand up, walk, and sit down!
To move your body, your nerves and muscles work together. You think about moving, your brain signals through your nerves, your nerves deliver these signal to make your muscles move. Other nerves signal digestive muscles to move food, also, nerves signal the heart to pump blood and keep it flowing.
Disease also damages nerves. Alcohol and drug use harm nerves. Drugs change the way nerve work and can destroy nerves. Every time a drug is taken, more nerves are damaged. Parkinson’s disease kills nerves that control muscles. Alzheimer disease attacks nerves in the brain, causing memory loss.
How do we protect our nervous system? It’s truly easy. What you may do is eat fruits and veggies. Good food and enough sleep go a long way. Sleep gives your nerves much needed rest. When you are riding a bicycle and sitting in the car, a bicycle helmet protects your brain if you fall, and a seatbelt keeps you from bumping your head in the car. These materials help you protect your
brain. Remember to use them!
The Nifty Nervous System
By Sophia Li 力詠夏, Grade Five student
System Functions
Imagine yourself without senses, memory, or balance. Without them, you wouldn’t be able to taste your dessert, ace tests or even go on the balance beam. Yep! That’s what happens to you when you don’t have a nervous system. The brain, which is an organ with a lot of deep grooves, is located inside the skull. The nerves send “messages” to the brain, alerting them of what you touch. And the spinal cord is a bundle of nerves down your back. All in all, the function of the nervous system is to control nearly every body system and your senses, which it does well. That’s why they say it’s nifty…
Connections to Other Body Systems
Think of the various body systems as people that each have a different job of their own. The nervous system would be the boss, since it runs everything, from digesting food to removing wastes, to inhaling oxygen to keeping your balance, which are controlled by the digestive, excretory, muscular, respiratory, and circulatory systems. As for the skeletal system, the brain, which is part of our very own nervous system, is protected by the skull, a part of the skeletal system! That’s a whole lot of connections.
Diseases of the Nervous System
Nifty as it is, though, the nervous system can still be attacked by various diseases. Epilepsy is one of them. If you have epilepsy, your brain gets short bursts of electricity, causing you to faint, or, in more serious cases, die. That’s what’s called a seizure! As a consequence, you need to go on a special diet, and you also have to take medicines to prevent seizures. Another disease is called Multiple Sclerosis. It’s a disease in which the insulating covers of nerve cells are damaged. You may suffer fatigue, depression, anxiety, muscle spasms, diarrhea, and even dysarthria, which is type of speech disorder. And that’s just a few! There is no known cure, although some therapies, such as dimethyl fumarate, have been proven useful, so you don’t really need to worry much.
Maintaining a Healthy Nervous System
There’s really no need to be “nervous” about caring for the nervous system, because it’s actually extremely simple and straightforward! Mentally, you can care for your brain by by doing crosswords, Sudoku or the like. Physically, you can care for your very own nervous system by exercising. Exercising brings more oxygen into your brain, helping it function better. But that’s not it: exercising also helps release endorphins in your body too! You also need to sleep and eat right, to help your whole nervous system remain healthy. On top of that, if you have epilepsy, it’s best to always wear a helmet in case you have a seizure and faint, but for those of us who don’t have epilepsy, just take care to wear a helmet when you play contact sports! Follow these easy instructions, and it’s guaranteed that your nervous system will thank you gratefully later on!
Self-Reflection
Since the nervous system is the “boss” of my body, I’m very thankful to God for letting me learn about this priceless information, and I intend to faithfully follow these instructions daily. I think the most important thing that I learned was how to take care of my nervous system, although the research on diseases of the nervous system was also very useful. Most of all, everything that exists has a reason, so I hope that therefore this article can be useful to any people who may want to learn about the nifty nervous system. I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Thank you for your time, and have a nice day.
You may check out more sample student work below:
The Amazing Circulatory System by Owen Niu 鈕心澤, Grade Five
The Skeletal System by Sean Enzo Lai 賴岑碩, Grade Five
The Wonderful Muscular System by Joy Chien 簡心悅, Grade Five
