Astrocytes Got Your Back

In this lesson, students will analyze an intended to support reading in the content area. The article presents exciting new research findings regarding axon generation in scar tissue formation following spinal cord injury. Astrocytes were once thought to decrease the growth of new axon connections, but now these important cells have been shown to actually stimulate growth and connections in the neural network. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Numerous options to extend the lesson are also included.
Resource ID#: 156570 Type: Lesson Plan
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General Information

Subject(s): English Language Arts, Science
Grade Level(s): 11, 12
Intended Audience: Educators educators
Instructional Time: 3 Hour(s)
Resource supports reading in content area:Yes
Keywords: astrocyte, nerve, neuron, nervous system, spinal cord, spinal injury, text complexity, nerve damage, scar, scar tissue
Instructional Component Type(s): Lesson Plan,  Worksheet,  Assessment,  Presentation/Slideshow,  Video/Audio/Animation,  Image/Photograph,  Text Resource,  Formative Assessment
Resource Collection: STEM Reading Resources

Aligned Standards

This vetted resource aligns to concepts or skills in these benchmarks.

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Lesson Plan

The Nerve Cell: It's All About Connection:

This lesson provides a description of the anatomy and physiology of the nerve cell/neuron. Vocabulary words, diagrams of the nerve cell, and the steps of nerve conduction are presented in this lesson. This lesson also includes a hands-on activity for making and edible nerve cell, group discussion, group activities, diagram worksheets, sentence completion worksheets, and assessments that require written responses from the students to describe how nerve cells transmit information from one cell to another.

Type: Lesson Plan

Tutorials

Diagnosing Words: Effective Vocabulary Strategies:

Click "View Site" to open a full-screen version. This tutorial is designed to help secondary science teachers learn how to integrate literacy skills into their science curriculum. This tutorial will demonstrate a number of strategies teachers can impart to students to help them use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words within science texts. It will also help them teach students how to select the appropriate definition from reference materials. The focus on literacy across content areas is intended to help foster students' reading, writing, and thinking skills in multiple disciplines.

Type: Tutorial

Underwater Evidence:

Click "View Site" to open a full-screen version. This tutorial is designed to help secondary science teachers learn how to integrate literacy skills within their science curriculum. This tutorial focuses on using specific textual evidence to support students' responses as they analyze science texts. The focus on literacy across content areas is designed to help students independently build knowledge in different disciplines through reading and writing.

Type: Tutorial

Nerve Impulse Transmission:


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Type: Tutorial

Virtual Manipulative

Neuron:

In this simulation, you will explore how neurons conduct electrical impulses by using the action potential. This phenomenon is generated through the flow of positively charged ions across the neuronal membrane. Stimulate a neuron and monitor what happens. You can pause, rewind, and move forward in time in order to observe the ions as they move across the neuron membrane.
Other ways to explore:

  • Describe why ions can or cannot move across neuron membranes.
  • Identify leakage and gated channels, and describe the function of each.
  • Describe how membrane permeability changes in terms of different types of channels in a neuron.
  • Describe the sequence of events that generates an action potential.

Type: Virtual Manipulative