Biology 101, Chapter 7, The 6th Day – Biology History, Cells, Genetics [post 1/3]

I really wish we had more time to cover this chapter!  It is huge, with a lot of my favorite things! =)
So there are 3 blog posts total, since they kind of divided themselves up that way.  =)
And since the moms agreed we were too busy to fit in another class, I had the kids to go ahead and be studying up on some stuff during spring break.  They were thrilled, lol.  ; )

But I am adding stuff in, and we do take 4 weeks per chapter instead of 3, so that and the pre-studying will have to do.  =)
I'd advise 6 weeks if you have it.  ; )

Animal Cell Pizza!
The Secretion Vesicle looks like someone took a bite, lol! =)

Blog Posts for Chapter 7:
• Post 1/3 - Cells
• Post 2/3 - DNA
• Post 3/3 - Genetics

In addition to Biology 101:
• Fun Cell Activity (teacher cheat sheet included) 1 point for placement, 1 point for naming the organelle, 1 point for giving the function.
Games like this give a jump start and make studying easier when they get home.
• Animal Cell Pizza and Plant Cell Cake - we will not be doing these this year, but here is the link.
• Google for more edible cell ideas.

Other Study Links
• Animal Cell coloring page
• Plant Cell coloring page
• Plant and Animal Cell Venn diagram (found here) - I made this blank one for our class.
• Comparison of plant and animal cells.  Click on an organelle name to jump to its description.  Use your back arrow to jump back to the cell.
A green square      beside the name of an organelle's description means that the organelle is typically only found in plant cells.  A red square      indicates organelles that are typically in animal cells.
• Interactive Cell - watch the motion of organelles in a cell.  Click the organelle labels to read the name of the organelle.  Read the description in the box on the side.
Not all organelles are pictured, but can you tell if this is a plant cell or an animal cell?  
•Interactive, animated tutorial w/ 6 questions at the end: From Cells to Systems.  Subtitles if needed.
• Really cool - Comparing Cell Size - use the slider below the pic to slowly zoom in.
• Read Potential Effects of Drinking Saltwater
• Another, super cute video about Osmosis, by the Amoeba Sisters! =)  Accompanying worksheet.

1. Cells

a. History

(1) The Wacky History of Cell Theory







b. The Cell

From cells, to tissues, to organs, to systems:

1. Blood cells, skin cells, brain cells, muscle cells... lots of types of cells!  There are hundreds of trillions of cells that make up your entire body, and there are all kinds.
2. Cells make up tissues.  A group of the same type of cell is called tissue.   Muscles cells form muscle tissue.
3. Tissues make up organs.  An important organ is your heart, and is made up of muscle and other tissues.  The brain and lungs are other important organs made up of tissues.
4. Groups of organs make up systems (like the digestive system, skeletal system, respiratory system, etc).

►Interactive, animated tutorial: From Cells to Systems. Turn on the subtitles if needed.
See if you can get all 6 questions right at the end.  You can re-do the tutorial as many times as you like.

►Really cool:  Comparing Cell Size - Use the slider below the picture to slowly zoom in.
Compare the size of a grain of rice to a blood cell!  Also see an atom and a water molecule at the end.
On the way, notice the amoeba, smaller than a grain of salt.
And the paramecium, (pear-uh-ME-see-um) about the size of an extremely tiny sliver of the corner of an amoeba.  When you zoom all the way back out, the paramecium disappears from view, but you can still barely see the amoeba.  Also see adenine - one of the nucleotides that make up DNA.



(2) Cell Structure and Function





(3) Nuclei, Membranes, Ribosomes, Eukaryotes, and Prokaryotes



All cells have a cell membrane (sometimes called a plasma membrane).  Think of a small balloon filled with jelly.  The membrane is the thin covering that keeps the cell together.  This cell membrane is what regulates what is allowed to be absorbed into the cell, and what goes out of the cell.
--Inside eukaryotic cells are many organelles (little organs), and these are also membrane-bound like the cell.  The DNA in eukaryotic cells is enclosed in a membrane-bound organelle called the nucleus.
--Inside prokaryotic cells is DNA, but there are no organelles, therefore no nucleus.  So the DNA can be seen all throughout the cell. 
►►►But with few exceptions, the two kingdoms that also have a cell wall are primarily kingdom Fungi and kingdom Plantae.  These need the added stiffness of a cell wall on the outside of the membrane to keep the plant or mushroom standing upright.  The material for the cell walls of these two kingdoms is quite different from one another, as you could probably guess.

All living things are made up of cells.
Some have many, many cells, and some have only one cell.  These are referred to as multi-cellular or single-cellular organisms.
The three basic kinds of cells are animal cells, plant cells, and bacteria cells.  All cells do not fit neatly into these categories as some are animal-like or plant-like. 
No matter how many cells an organism has, or which of the three basic cells an organism has, all cells are either prokaryotic cells or eukaryotic cells.

►Eukaryotic cells have organelles (or tiny organs) like a nucleus, vacuoles, and other organelles.  The nucleus holds the DNA of eukaryotic cells.
Four of the five kingdoms have eukaryotic cells. (kingdoms Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia)
►Prokaryotic cells contain no organelles.  The DNA does not have a nucleus to stay in.  Under a microscope, the DNA strands are visible throughout the cell.
Only one of the five kingdoms has prokaryotic cells, and that is kingdom Monera (bacteria).
►SEE the difference

(4) Organelle Overview





(5) Cell Organelles and their Function Animation





(6) Vacuoles-Vesicles - what is the difference?





(7) Parts of a Plant Cell - photosynthesis, xylem and phloem, and did you know that not all plant cells have chloroplasts??







c. Diffusion and Osmosis

(8) Diffusion and Osmosis (clipped bc the osmosis part got confusing) If you want to watch it, I advise doing so after watching the next few videos.





Remember the egg experiment?  That was a demonstration of osmosis.
(9) How Osmosis Works




►Another, super cute video about Osmosis, by the Amoeba Sisters! =)
--Accompanying worksheet.



(10) Osmosis Demo

(11) A Tour of the Cell - a good review

At 11:12, he is WRONG.  Some people teach that mitochondria, which can make their own DNA, were once prokaryotic bacteria that evolved.

d. The Cell Membrane

A whole section on the cell membrane?  YES!  The cell membrane is much more complex than one may realize!  How can fluid and other things flow in and out of a cell?  How can other things be kept out of the cell??  It isn't full of tiny holes as one might imagine.  Oh, no.  It is SOOO much more complex than that!
Only our Creator could have designed such a thing.
For if evolution were to make it by chance??... well... if you took a marker and wrote the ABCs on 26 index cards... how many tries do you think it would take to throw them into the air and the alphabet line up perfectly???  And if organisms needed to evolve to live... um, how could they live before they evolved.  They didn't.
So this section is pretty important.  It's important for us to know how complex God's creation is, so that we know there is absolutely no way evolution (which claims these things were done by chance!) could have done such a thing.

(12) Cell Membrane Introduction


Remember:  Lipids are fats, and repel water. 
Part of a phospholipid (see image) is attracted to water, and part is repelled by water.  This causes the phospholipids to arrange in such a way as to make up the plasma membrane of a cell.




(13) Cell Membrane Overview and Fluid Mosaic Model





(14) Cell Membrane Proteins





(15) Cell Membrane Fluidity





(16) Diffusion and Osmosis in cells (and Active Transport)



► Read Potential Effects of Drinking Saltwater




(17) The Cell Membrane - a quick review

e. Cellular Respiration
How our body converts food into energy.

(18) An excellent Animation of Cellular Respiration - how our body converts food to energy.
Click on The Big Picture, then the play icon. ►
When you watch each of the steps of Cellular Respiration, there are various checkpoints to see what you remember.

--The purpose of Cellular Respiration is to make energy.  
Your cells constantly make energy through a series of steps, divided into stages.  There are four stages of Cellular Respiration (the animation above combines 2 of them), and in each stage there are molecules that react together in a chemical reaction that produce other molecules as products.  

--In a chemical formula, the reactants (the molecules that react together) are on the left of the arrow, and the products (the molecules that are produced from the reaction) are on the right of the → arrow. 

The general chemical formula for cellular respiration is:
1 glucose molecule (from food we eat) + 6 oxygen molecules (that we breathe in) will produce  →  6 carbon dioxide molecules (that we breathe out), 6 water molecules, and about 36 molecules of ATP (energy).
     C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂   →   6CO₂ +  6H₂O + energy
Do you recognize these molecules?  This is the reverse of photosynthesis!

--In each stage of cellular respiration, some products from the previous stage (or more than one previous stage) will then be used as reactants to make new products in the current stage.

Like factories make ingredients, and a baker might take only some of those ingredients to bake bread, then you might take only 2 slices of that bread and make a sandwich. But the leftovers are still there in the end.

The first stage of cellular respiration is (1) glycolysis, or the breaking down of glucose. This takes place in the cytoplasm. 
The other three stages take place in the mitochondrion.
They are (2) the formation of acetyl coenzyme A, (3) the Krebs cycle, and (4) the electron transport system.

The purpose of cellular respiration is to get energy (ATP), but right from the beginning, the first stage uses 2 ATP's as a "push" to get going, the activation energy.  This is like an investment because in the end, about 36 ATP's are finally produced.

►Click if you want to read more about each step.  Scroll down to section 8, How Cells Get their Energy.
Watch for which products are used as reactants in the next stage(s), and which products are "saved" to be used in a later stage.

Chemistry??

I've had several emails and at least one comment from people asking about chemistry, and I am very sorry, but I do not plan to post videos for chemistry.
However, here are a few links you might be able to use.  Some are for videos.

► Intro to Chemistry videos and AP Chemistry videos
(scroll to the playlist you want and click View Full Playlist)
Here is what a full playlist looks like: Intro to Chemistry: Introductory Unit.  They are not in order, but the videos are numbered.  This one is "Intro to Chemistry: 1.1: Properties of Matter (1/2)."  So that means there is also a 1.1 (2/2).

► Khan Academy Chemistry - videos "roughly covering a first-year high school or college course"

► Periodic Table of Videos - a video for each element.  I think many show the actual element. =)

► Queensland Science Teachers - looks to be simple explanations, like charts and/or bullet statements.  May be good to print out for reference for whatever topic you're on.

►Excellent video on balancing equations!!

► Periodic Table of Elements interactive online games at Jefferson Labs - practice identifying what the numbers and symbols mean on the periodic table, practice balancing equations and more.
Love this!

Here is my Pinterest Chemistry page, in case there might be a thing or two more that looks interesting.  There are a couple of pins to free chemistry curriculum.  Most things pinned here are just chemistry funnies that I found and wanted to save. =)

If kids are having trouble understanding something, it may be that they had missed a basic somewhere.  Videos, etc. can be a good refresher and/or a simple explanation that can help so much.





If I do chemistry this fall, it will be Chemistry 101 (available for purchase at ChristianBook.com), but I will only be doing it with my son and don't plan to have a class.  I didn't take chemistry in highschool, so this will all be new to me!  =)
If the Intro to Chemistry videos above already seem too easy for your student, then Chemistry 101 may not be for you except as a supplement for a more involved Chemistry curriculum.

My son has mild dyslexia as well as dyscalculia (has to do with math. For example, algebra problems or any problems with many steps, i.e. long division, are tedious and take lots of repetition in order to retain -- getting the steps done in order, not skipping steps, etc.), so when I heard that Chemistry 101 did not have math, I knew that even if we don't end up doing it for a full credit, he will enjoy this.


One question I have been asked several times is What will you be doing with Chemistry 101?

If Chemistry 101 is like Biology 101, I would say each DVD segment probably gives the basics, an overview, etc, to get a good idea of the chapter topic.  I would watch the Chemistry 101 DVD, then use what resources I had to delve in further where needed.
There are 19 video segments in Chemistry 101. =)  Biology 101 only had nine.

If you use Chemistry 101 as your base, be prepared to work finding materials to accompany the program.  (See sample assignments.)  The above links can give you a start.
We will be substituting some of the assignments with other things I find.


Besides the above video links, etc., my indefinite plans so far...

I want to get Apologia's elementary Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (sample pages) as well as their high school Chemistry.  I'm sure I will be doing some of their experiments.  =)
Also on my list are John Hudson Tiner's books Exploring the World of Chemistry [also available as pdf download] and Exploring the World of Physics [also available as pdf download].
I also want Physics 101!  We probably will just watch the DVDs sometime. =)
I just really want them all because I just love science and books so much! =)



Just a little extra for beginners.  Watch these videos in order.

1.  How to read an element on the periodic table - protons have a postive charge, and electrons have a negative charge, so there will be the same number of each to cancel each other out.

The protons and neutrons (neutral charge) are together in the nucleus, and added together they make up the atomic weight, that when rounded, is called the mass number.
If the mass number is 15 and there are 7 protons, then there are 8 neutrons.  Also you will know there are 7 electrons to match the number of protons.

2.  Atoms and the Periodic Table - more info about what all those numbers and symbols mean

There is a maximum number of electrons that can fit in each "shell" or "ring" of an atom.  

The first shell will hold 2 electrons, the second will hold up to 8, and so on... When one shell is full, any electrons left goes to the next shell in order, even if there is only 1 left.  So it could be 2, 8, 1, if that's all the electrons there are.  Elements that have 8 electrons in their outermost shell are more stable than those with fewer. The electrons in the outer shell are called valence electrons.

Now practice what you've learned so far.  =)

3.  A Tour of the Periodic Table - the groups, periods, how it is arranged and why.

Atoms whose outer shells aren't full love to link up with other atoms whose number of valence electrons will make both their outer shells full.  Then these linked atoms are called a molecule.  Example H2O.

Atoms whose outer shells (valence shells) are full are more stable.  

4.  A Beginner's Guide to Balancing Equations - after watching, go practice! =)


►The practice links above are from Jefferson Labs.

Biology 101: Chapter 6b, The 6th Day - Mankind, part 2 {circulatory, digestive, lymphatic, and endocrine systems}

Circulation Game

I found quite a few longer videos, so I assigned less reading. =)

Tip: We do our chapters in 4 weeks, with a class every 2 weeks.  Because of having more to do for Circulatory and for Digestive and not much for the other systems, I divided our classes with Circulatory and Endocrine Systems for the first class, and Digestive and Lymphatic Systems the next.


In addition to Biology 101:
• Circulation Game - 2 teams rather than individuals to help it go faster, and reduced the number of playing pieces that needed to be taken to their destinations.
See it here, the printables and instructions.
• Apologia Biology Exp. 5.1 Diffusion, and 5.2 Osmosis
• General Science Exp. 13.2, Stomach Acid and Antacids
• Label the Digestive System in class


Other Study Links
• Label the Digestive System - drag and drop
(Soft palate, pharynx, larynx, and trachea are not mentioned, so don't forget to study those.)
• Organs Game - rotate and drop the organs into position. (Thanks to Mr. Ford for this link)

The Circulatory System

(1) How a Normal Heart Pumps Blood -- The Children's Hospital of Philidelphia





All arteries flow away from the heart.
All veins flow to the heart.

Arteries branch out until they are tiny, thin-walled capillaries that themselves are thinner than a hair.
Capillaries eventually merge back together to form larger vessels called veins.

(2) Types of Blood Vessels -- eMedTV





We learned the blood flow in this order:
right atrium, right ventricle, lungs, left atrium, left ventricle, body
This video starts with the blood flowing from the right ventricle into the lungs.
Don't get confused -- the order is the same; this video just starts at a different point in the circuit.
(3) Path of a Red Blood Cell -- Encyclopedia Britannica





(4) The Respiratory System (blood cells are key for how we get oxygen)





►Food, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other wastes are able to pass in and out through the thin walls of the capillaries and of the cells.  In this way, food and oxygen get from the blood to the cells, and the wastes from cells get into the blood to be taken back to the kidneys or to the lungs for removal.
►I like what the circulation game directions said about the capillaries being right next to all the cells that need things, and as the "stuff" in the capillaries flows by, the cells can get what they need and put back what is no longer needed.
Like a conveyor belt outside your window with food - you put the trash out and take in what you need.
Example: capillaries all around the alvoli in your lungs. See image (source).

(5) 3D Animation of Working of Heart





(6) The Circulatory System -- Bozeman Science w/ Paul Anderson





►You probably know that as you swallow, a flap called the epiglottis closes over the trachea, preventing food or liquid from entering the trachea (windpipe).  Occasionally a bit gets in, and you have a coughing fit!
►Pulmonary means "of the lungs."
(7) The Lungs and Pulmonary System -- Kahn Academy





How does the "good" stuff and "bad" stuff know whether to go in or out of the cell?
The "stuff" tends to want to balance itself out.  Just like in the naked egg experiment. (Apologia Biology Exp. 5.2 Osmosis)  The egg will swell when immersed in distilled water, but will shrink when in Karo syrup.  The fluids inside the egg will go in or out of the egg to balance the density of fluid both inside and outside the egg membrane.   This is why when a person drinks ocean water, the water in their cells will move out of the cell by osmosis to the higher concentrated salt water, which can be fatal.

(8) Red Blood Cells -- Kahn Academy





Most arteries carry oxygenated blood, but at the heart, for a short distance, the pulmonary artery carries de-oxygenated blood (with carbon dioxide in them) from the right ventricle of the heart to the capillaries surrounding the alveoli in the lungs.
►When the blood passes through these capillaries, the blood receives oxygen coming from the alveoli and "gets rid of" carbon dioxide which will then be exhaled out of the lungs.
This is sometimes called "exchanging oxygen" meaning "exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide."
People with asthma have a hard time breathing in deeply enough to get sufficient oxygen all the way to their alveoli. 
Most veins carry de-oxygenated blood, but for a short distance, the pulmonary vein carries the now-oxygenated blood from the capillaries around the aveoli back to the left atrium.  Then the aorta (a large artery) will start the oxygenated blood on its journey back out to all the cells in your body.

(9) Circulatory System and the Heart -- Kahn Academy

The Digestive System

Label the Digestive System game,
with a few tweaks and additions by me.  =)

-Digestive tract:  the pathway that food and liquids follow while passing through your body.
-Digestive system:  all organs that contribute to digestion, even if no food passes through them (such as the liver, the gallbladder, and the pancreas).

The Basic Process of Digestion
a. Ingestion:  the taking in of food
b. Physical Digestion:  chewing
c. Chemical/Enzyme Digestion:  Amylase in your saliva begins the initial breakdown of  starch/carbohydrates.  Carbohydrates are further broken down on into the digestive tract.  For fats/lipids and proteins, the initial breaking down happens on into the digestive tract.
d. Absorption: mostly takes place in the walls of the small intestine.
e. Excretion: removal of undigested material after all moisture has been absorbed back into the body by the colon.



(10) As you watch this 3 min. video, Organs of Digestion, notice the differences between:
       • soft palate and epiglottis
       • pharynx and larynx (Larynx isn't mentioned in the video, but is pictured here)
       • esophagus and trachea (windpipe)

"Within the respiratory system, air is first inhaled through the nose or mouth into the pharynx. From the pharynx, air is drawn through the larynx and trachea to make its way to the lungs." (source)

You can feel your larynx rise up during swallowing.  This causes the epiglottis to cover the larynx, which is the beginning of the path to the trachea (your windpipe).  The larynx is also called your voice box because it houses the vocal cords.
One of the cartilages that support the larynx is often referred to as the Adam's apple.



The small intestine has folds all along its inner surface as well as thousands of tiny villi.  This provides extra surface area for more absorption.
Much like a wall with lots of projections built onto it would take more paint than a flat wall.




Note: Carbohydrates are starches; Lipids are Fats.
(11) The Digestive System -- Bozeman Science w/ Paul Anderson



What are micronutrients and macronutrients?

•Macronutrients are the structural and energy-giving caloric components of our foods that most of us are familiar with.  They include carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
•Micronutrients are the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, phytochemicals, and antioxidants that are essential for good health.
(source)

Vitamins
What is the difference between fat-soluble vitamins and water-soluble vitamins?
Fat-soluble (lipid-soluble) vitamins (A, D, E, K) can build to toxic levels if you take too many.

The water-soluble vitamins are vitamin C and the vitamin B group, such as pantothenic acid (B5), biotin (B7), and folic acid (B9).  
These last two (biotin and folic acid), as well as vitamin K (fat-soluble), are by-products of good bacteria in the large intestine.

Vitamin D can be taken in through food, but it also can be absorbed from the body's exposure to sunlight.
Vitamin K is also absorbed without being eaten in food.

►See a list of vitamins, and some foods that contain them.  No food contains just one vitamin, so you will see the same types of foods listed for more than one vitamin.
You will also see the names of the B group vitamins.




Colonoscopy (colon, scope)
In a colonoscopy, the doctor is looking for irregularities - small bumps that might grow and form cancer.
My mom passed away in August, 2011, from colon cancer.  When they did a colonoscopy in 2008, there was a large growth that nearly completely blocked the colon.  They were able to get it all, but the damage had been done, and cancer cells had already spread elsewhere in the body.
A colonoscopy doesn't sound like much fun, but it is really important.
(12) Colonoscopy Video Tour: Journey Through A Healthy Colon 





(13) Tim Hawkins' Colonoscopy Song, hahaha!

The Lymphatic System

Lymph vessels have points along the way called lymph nodes.
Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped organs of the lymphatic system.  See image of lymph nodes.
The lymphatic system has three primary purposes which you will learn in these videos.

(14) Why do we need a lymphatic system?





(15) How do lymphatic vessels move fluid?





(16) What is the lymphatic system's role in immunity?





More about B Cells and T Cells, and how they work.
(17) The Immune System





(18) Lipid and protein transport in the Lymphatic System





(19) What is actually in lymph?

The Endocrine System

The endocrine system refers to the collection of glands of an organism that secrete hormones directly into the circulatory system to be carried toward a distant target organ.(Wikipedia)

(20) Endocrine Gland Hormone Review





(21) The Endocrine System




(22) Hormone Concentration Metabolism, and Negative Feedback





ATP is energy - remember that! =)
(23) Positive and Negative Feedback Loops

Missing Videos - Requesting Viewer Help

Update: The videos are back!  But I still could use help from viewers.  Please see comments.  =)

I've received several emails from viewers letting me know that videos on certain posts are missing from my blog!
Now I'm not talking about the videos where you click Play, and it says, "This video is no longer available, etc" or just shows 'snow.'  Videos like that have been removed from YouTube -- either by YouTube for copyright issues, or by the person who uploaded the video to begin with, or maybe they closed their account.
The videos I'm talking about are the ones that are totally missing altogether.  Nothing is there.  Just blank space.
I really apologize for this!  I've had many comments and emails from y'all telling me how much the videos have helped in your homeschooling.  And now half or more of each post is just ...gone!

Mostly these missing videos are from posts I created 2-3 years ago.
When I looked at these posts on my computer, I do just see blank space where there was once a video.  When I go to Edit and look at the HTML (code) section, where I have copy/pasted in the embed code from YouTube, the code is still there, but then the video isn't visible when I click back to the Compose section.

http://homeschoolersresources.blogspot.com/2011/01/biology-module-10-ecology.html

Ugh!  I have no idea why this is happening!  I had hoped it was an issue with Blogger, and they would resolve it and the videos would be back!  Yay!  But... that hasn't happened.  Yet?  (still hoping)
The only other idea I can think of is if YouTube has somehow changed their embed coding so that the old codes no longer are compatible with Blogger?  But some videos are still there.  So....??
I really am just guessing here.  I haven't had time to look into it at all.

I will be working on these posts, one at a time, as soon as I'm able.  School is currently going on so it will be awhile before I get to it.  We also usually end up doing some subjects during the summer, and summers are quite busy here as well.  But I will get to it.  
It just may not be in time for some of you. =\
It won't be as simple as pasting in new codes, because for most of these videos, I am not able to remember what I posted.  It will be starting over.  Re-reading the Biology or Physical Science book chapters, figuring out what is needed for each section, then re-searching for appropriate videos for that space.  Hopefully it will go faster than I think.

And if my viewers would like to help out, that would be wonderful!
If any of you have recently watched videos that are now missing, maybe they would still be fresh in your mind and if you researched, you would recognize a video or two.
Or for any post that you would like to help out on.  Maybe the current one your child is doing -- that would help us both!

If you find something you think will fit a post, please email me at homeschoolersresources@gmail.com.
Please include which blog post, and which section the video should go in.

I would appreciate it very much!
Many thanks! =)

Biology 101: Chapter 6a, The 6th Day - Mankind, part 1 {brain, senses, skeletal and muscular systems}

In addition to Biology 101:
• Apple & Onion.  Method #1.  Blindfold someone and give them a chunk of peeled apple, but hold a piece of onion near so that they will smell it.  See if they think they are eating an onion.
Method #2.  Blindfold someone and have them hold their nose and see if they can tell at all which they are eating.
Also Apple & Pear, or 2 fruit-flavored baby foods, or 2 flavors of pudding -- anything that has the same texture.  But choose things that taste very different from the other.
• Blind Spot.  This one is in Biology 101, but here is a worksheet if you want it for a group.
• Apologia Physical Science, Exp 15.5, How the Eye Detects Color
• Brain worksheet
• Neuron worksheet, another worksheet
• Skeleton worksheet, another worksheet

Other Study Links
• article on the Skeletal System
• diagram of an individual nerve cell (a neuron) (source - Great simplified article on The Neuron)
• diagram of a synapse between two nerve cells (neurons) (source)
• another diagram of a synapse between two neurons (source)
• diagram of a human eye (source)
• diagram of the human ear (source)
• Skeletal System quiz
• skeleton to label and/or assemble
• simple article on Stem Cell Basics

Just for Fun
• Stem Cells cartoon - an illustration to help remember what a stem cell is.  I printed this out to use during class.
• images for 'I find this humerus' -- I printed out one of these for class also.
• Brain Games fun.  Scroll down for different activities.  For the first one, I'm not sure why, but you need to scroll back up a bit on each new page to see the directions.
• If you like games that use your brain, Private Eye can be pretty challenging.  Be sure to watch ALL the examples so you'll know what to do.  Then choose your difficulty level and other stuff. Whew! =D
• Brains and Neurons board game.  I think we will have 2 teams, use 2 dice so it goes quicker, and let them roll only if they get an answer correct.  =)  Down the spinal cord, and from the dendrite to the axon.
Lol, the neurons look like little horned creatures, with their mouths open, going Aaaaahhhh! =D


(1) Anatomy and Physiology - an overview of what we will be studying for the next few weeks.





(2) Anatomy of a Neuron
Neurons carry signals in your body.
Neurons are individual nerve cells.  A nerve is a collection of nerve cells (neurons) that transmits information about what you are feeling.  See image.
Neurons transmit from one neuron to another without touching.  This space between neurons is called a synapse.  See image. (source)





(3) The Brain is part of the Nervous System

If you like, you may watch the rest of the video here.




(4) Your Senses





(5) The Skeletal System - our bones do much more than just support our body!
Our skeleton is made up of two main parts:
     • axial skeleton (axis)
     • appendicular skeleton (appendages)  (see image, source)





(6) Dancing Skeleton! =)





(7) The Muscular System (by Bozeman Science)
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(8) The Muscular System: Skeletal Muscles - how a muscle contracts





(9) The Muscular System: Smooth Muscles
Smooth muscles are the involuntary muscles.