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4th Grade Unit: Traumatic Brain Injuries The traumatic-brain-injury unit combines brain injury prevention and the basic anatomy of the nervous system, with an inspiring look at promising careers in science and medicine.
The presenter discusses helmets and seatbelts with the class to see if the students know how to protect their brains. The presenter compares a brain to the yolk of an egg, then shakes and drops a raw egg to show how an accident can damage your brain. The students do an experiment to see how much padding is needed to protect an egg from cracking in a free fall. Each group gets a different material to tape around an egg. The students predict which eggs will remain intact, and the presenter drops each egg from a height of six feet. The students compare their predictions to the results. Finally, the presenter demonstrates the proper way to wear a helmet. Lesson 2: Making Neurons Students learn how neurons send messages through the nervous system to all parts of the body. They make pipe cleaner neurons that they can take home. Then they participate in a role-playing game where they act as neurons sending signals as fast as they can. Lesson 3: Building a Brain The presenter shares pictures and models of the central nervous system, and the students brainstorm the functions of the parts. Then the presenter explains a diagram of the brain as the students color a similar one. Next the students use modeling clay to create models of the brain. These models show the four lobes of the brain, the cerebellum, and the brainstem. Finally, the students take a test to see if they are right-brained or left-brained. Lesson 4: Testing Reaction Time The presenter demonstrates various ways to measure reaction time. The students investigate the case of a young person with a head injury, and they measure their own reaction times by catching a ruler. The class analyzes data to determine if the patient’s results fall within the normal range for 4th graders. Lesson 5: Treating Brain Injuries The students hear a guest speaker, a healthcare professional who helps treat brain injuries. Then they learn about stem-cell research and make flipbooks showing a stem cell turning into a neuron. Finally, they review what they learned in the other lessons.
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Lesson 1: Protecting Your Brain