Building A Clay Neuron

General biology is a requirement for all middle school as well as high school students. Animal cell anatomy is a pivotal part of any biology curriculum. Neurons are a specialized cell which can be employed to aid in the understanding of all cell biology. Furthermore, neurons are one of the key elements which comprise the brain and nervous systems and are a very exciting subject for kids and adults alike. A power point slide show with some basics in neuroscience is found in the documents within this teaching plan.

Another key portion of this lesson plan is learning to build a representative model of a biological structure. This is often preformed in the biological sciences in order to further the understanding of the subject in question. Model construction is an important activity in that it is a hands-on learning activity. Modeling is also a learning activity in which student can use their natural creativity within the instruction process. 

Objectives:

1) Learn a basic understanding of the anatomy of a neuron.

2) Learn a basic understanding of the physiology (or the job) of a neuron.

3) Introduction to neural transmitters.

4) Introduction into neuronal action potentials or electrical activity.

Keywords: Animal Cell Anatomy, Neurons, Nervous System, Model construction