Brain DeCoded with CodeX - Mission 2, Objective 1: Neuron Power

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Overview

Mission 2 opens with the biology, not the code. This objective is reading material: students learn what a neuron is and what each of its three parts does. Dendrites listen, the soma decides, and the axon sends. That structure is the model every program in the rest of the mission is built on, so it is worth getting solid here.

There is no program to write. Students do create a file in CodeSpace for their written response, and that file is what completes the objective, so plan for a few minutes of CodeSpace time even though no code gets typed.

🎯 Project Goal: Students explain the parts of a neuron and how they work together.

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Learning Targets

I can identify the three parts of a neuron.
I can explain the responsibilities of each part of a neuron.

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Key Concepts

Neurons are used in the messaging system of the brain.
A neuron has three basic parts, and each contributes to its communication.

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Assessment Opportunities

Exit ticket: draw a picture of a neuron and label its parts.
Written response that summarizes the neuron structure and how neurons transmit signals.

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Success Criteria

Use vocabulary from the objective
Discuss the parts of a neuron and how they work together

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Digital Resources

▸Objective 1 reading in CodeSpace, the source material for this lesson
▸Optional: a neuron diagram or short anatomy video of your choosing to project during the reading

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Classroom Materials

▸Laptop/computer with Chrome browser

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Extensions & Cross-Curricular

ExtensionUse supplemental materials to go more in-depth about neurons.

ExtensionHave students create a video, web page, poster, or slides about neurons and give the presentation to an audience.

Visual ArtsStudents can create an art project of a neuron (3D model, painting, drawing, etc.)

Lang ArtsStudents write a summary of a topic covered in this objective.

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Vocabulary

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Neuron:fundamental building blocks of the brain; cells that transmit electrical and chemical signals.

Dendrites:the input branches of a neuron that listen for signals from neighboring neurons.

Soma:the neuron cell body that processes signals, deciding when to pass them along.

Axon:the output wire of the neuron, sending messages to the next neuron in line.

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Standards

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Life Science

LS1.A

Science & Engineering Practices

Developing and Using Models

Crosscutting Concepts

Systems and System Models

English Language Arts

WHST.9-10.2 WHST.11-12.2 WHST.9-10.4

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Preparing for the Lesson

Read through Objective 1 yourself so you know how much of the neuron structure the reading covers and where you want to add to it.
Decide whether you are supplementing. This objective is reading material, so any video, diagram, or article you want to add works best if it is queued up before class.
Decide how students will submit the written response. They still need to create the file in CodeSpace to meet the goal, even if the writing itself happens somewhere else.
No devices to hand out for this one. Students only need a computer and their CodeSpace account.

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Teacher Notes

This objective is reading material for students. Feel free to supplement with any additional materials.
The students are asked to create a file in CodeSpace for their written response. Students can complete a response in a different way, but students still need to create the file to meet the goal.
The three parts come back in every later objective in this mission, where students code a neuron and then chain neurons together. Time spent on dendrites, soma, and axon here pays off in Objectives 3, 4, and 5.
Extensions and cross-curricular projects are included to enhance the concepts in the objective. You can use the extensions to extend students' learning.

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Lesson Outline

🗣️Warm-up / Hook

Start with the messaging problem before naming any parts.

Ask: "You touch something hot and your hand pulls back before you think about it. How did that message get from your hand to your arm?"
Ask: "If billions of cells all need to talk to each other, what does one of those cells need to be able to do?"

Teaching tip: Push students toward "receive, decide, send" without giving them the words. Once they have those three jobs, the three parts of a neuron have somewhere to land.

📖Lesson Activities

This objective is reading material, so plan how students move through it and where you stop to talk.

Students read the Objective 1 material in CodeSpace, individually or as a class.
Stop at each part and name its job out loud: dendrites listen, the soma decides, the axon sends.
Project a neuron diagram or play a short anatomy video if you are supplementing, then have students point out the three parts on it.
Quick check: have students explain the path of a signal through one neuron to a partner, start to finish, using the vocabulary.

Teaching tip: Reading-only objectives lose students fast. Breaking the reading into the three parts and pausing after each one keeps it moving, and it gives you a natural spot to add your own material.

💻Student Work Time

Students write their response and create the file in CodeSpace.

Students create the file in CodeSpace for the written response. This step is required to complete the objective.
Students write a summary of the neuron structure and how neurons transmit signals, using the vocabulary from the reading.
If you are collecting the writing another way, students still create the file, then submit their work however you have set up.

Teaching tip: Give students a target, something like "name all three parts and describe the path of one signal." Otherwise the responses come back as a single sentence.

✏️Wrap-up & Review

Close with the exit ticket.

Exit ticket: draw a picture of a neuron and label its parts.
Quick share: which part of the neuron does the most interesting job, and why?

Teaching tip: Hang on to the exit ticket drawings. Students who want to keep going can turn theirs into the visual arts extension, a 3D model, painting, or drawing of a neuron.

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