Objectives:
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a. Students will learn the process of Saltatory Conduction.
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b. Students will learn about the Schwann cells and the nodes of Ravier.
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c. Students will develop eye hand coordination and teamwork while performing group activities.
Materials:
Tape player
Selecting musical scores from the following:
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1. Allegretto from the Divertimento in D Major K. 131
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2. Divertimento in F K. 138
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3. Symphony #33 in B Flat K. 319
Anticipatory Set:
Explain to the students the process of neural signals and how they can "jump" from one node to another, thus increasing the speed of neural transmissions. During warm - ups play various musical scores and have students reflect on which ones that enjoyed and recommendations for future classes.
Main Activity:
To model salutatory conduction; divide class into two or three equal teams. Each player lines up with the next player behind about three feet from each other. Each player represents a Schwann cells and their arms nodes of Ravier. The first player in line is given a ball, which represents the neural signal or action potential. On go, the first player begins passing the ball to the next person in line, until it gets to the end of the line. For variation, have students pass the ball under their legs, or every other person to demonstrate the speed of neural signals. An additional variation is to have multiple lines work together on the number of balls, (signals can be transmitted) at one time.
Homework select one of three handouts in appendix A.
