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PSYCHOLOGY: COMMON CORE UNIT IV – Neuroscience UNIT PsychologyKorpics 10-2013
ValleyCentralSchool District
Common Core Unit Plan
Psychology Unit IV
Title of Unit:Neuroscience Unit IV - The Brain and Central Nervous System, Neurons, Neurochemistry, Historical Treatment of Neurological Disease, CNS Disorders and Reflexes / Grade Level: 11, 12Curricular Areas Included: Psychology, Neuroscience, Biochemistry, Ethics of Mentally Ill CNS disorder/diseases, Neurons/Transmitters/Reflexes / Time Frame: 6-8 Days Depending on Shortened Period Schedules and/or weather.
Overview (s):(Overarching Unit Objectives)
(Part I.). HOOK 1:Students are presented with a twirling dancer optical illusion. While they are all looking at the same video clip, they all see her spin different ways; clockwise, counter clockwise, switching, not switching. I continue to act surprised that the entire class is seeing the same thing and that it frightens me if I ever go to court and they’re on the jury and give eye witness testimony!, (Knowing all the while that they are processing the optical illusion not with their eyes but their occipital lobe.)Discussion follows on optical nerves and the occipital lobe in your brain located in the back of your head. HOOK 2;then ask them if they’ve ever rubbed their eyes and saw colors or lights when they were younger. Invariably they all have – at this point I tell them that what they really did was just smush the back of their occipital lobe into the back of their skull since their brain floats in cerebral spinal fluid.The response is usually enjoyable. Neuroscience is a crucial component of understanding Psychology even for the younger student since so much of our behavior is driven by biochemistry. The anatomy and physiology of the brain and the central nervous system will be discussed. Introductory Activity:An introductory activity has the students putting their hands in the air, putting their palms down, putting their right finger in their right ear and saying “This is my favorite ear.” Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT: understand that this activity explained to them is that they performed an almost miraculous feat in the how each part of their brain was active in the short period of time it took to perform that task. They discussed the hemispheres, the mid, (limbic) brain and the lower (reptilian) brain and their roles in not only their introductory activity but also in the things they do during their day. Students learn about the: cerebral cortex, meninges, corpus collosum, cerebrum, gray matter vs. white matter, discussion of grooves in the cerebral cortex and the reasons behind that, They read a handout on the physiology of the brain.
(Part II.) HOOK 1: Students are asked to “pack up Aunt Edna’s valuable glassware and they will inherit her one million dollars if they do not crack a single glass.”Student Objectives – Specific Student Outcomes SWBAT Understand the natural protections of the brain is important in seeing that there are several natural barriers to injury and/or infection. While students discuss the correct way to protect the glasses, we discuss among the students and then determine that the brain utilizes similar ways of protecting itself. Discussion, notes and readings follow on the cerebrum, skull, discussion of the fusion of infant skulls prior to age 6 months (approximately), the thickness and difficult to penetrate cerebral cortex, and then the Blood Brain Barrier that serves as a semi-permeable membrane to protect the brain from infection but allows necessary neurotransmitters to pass through. SWBAT Understand basic anatomy of the brain, traumatic brain injuries, lobes, roles of each lobe, Wernicke and Broca areas and their significance, the hippocampus and memory, Discussion follows of viral and bacterial meningitis and the differences and the importance of the bacterial meningitis vaccine. Students often speak of their experiences with concussion, head trauma, and experiences with the vaccine. Examples of Traumatic Brain Injury are discussed, among them the 33 NFL football players (past and present) who have committed suicide due to Chronic Encephalopathy and how autopsies are proving that certain markers are pointing to the fact that a life long history of competitive contact sports with head injuries, including mild undiagnosed concussion is a controversial topic currently and programs from Pop Warner to College Football are being evaluated for ways to prevent this disease. Students Read a reading on “How To Know If Someone is having a Stroke” and the many ways that strokes can appear and how to spot them using the “SMILE” tactic among others. Bell’s Palsy is also discussed as this can appear as a stroke and young students may fear that they are having a stroke when it is a common side effect of early Lyme Disease.
(Part III).Introductory Reading: Phineas Gage. Students read about the tragic tale of Phineas Gage who ended up having a tamping iron explode upwards when trying to tamp down gun powder while building railroads in the 1800’s, the result being the pole turning into a missile and penetrating his eye and through his skull and out the other side. Phineas Gage is known as Neuroscience’s First Real Patient (Smithsonian Magazine/ Harvard Medical School).Visuals were introduced. Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT learn about the frontal lobe and where the personality lies and injuries to this area can create personality changes. Identification of common hazards, (quads, no helmets, not buckling helmets, etc.) and the recent tragedies that have occurred in this district due to traumatic brain injury.
(Part IV). HOOK I: Students participate in an experiment where 3 students leave the room while the rest of the class is told about Brain Dominance Theory and how there are some theories that point to the fact that when a person is faced with a “right brain” creative type question they will look to the left, (opposite hemisphere) and to the right when asked a “left brain” logical type question. Students were to watch the students in the front of the room when they returned answering simple, but deliberately right/left brain type questions. The way they answered them as well was illustrative of their own preference for right/left brain thinking. At the end of the activity we tell the volunteers what we were doing and the class discusses the results.Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT understand, and identify RIGHT/LEFT Brain Dominance Theory, Analyze the validity of this theory and discuss the lateralization of the brain especially in situations where this had hemispherectomy and or brain damage. Neural plasticity is discussed as a way for the brain to compensate for the loss of use in the event of a traumatic event. Students read a “Left Brain Right Brain Dominance Theory” Reading with questions to answer and asked to question the validity of the theory.
(Part V).FOCUS and DO NOW: Class began with a review on Upper Brain: higher level thinking. Mid Brain: (Limbic System) vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation. Lower Brain: primitive functions, aggression, fight or flight. Brain Stem: autonomic functions Two hemispheres – right hemisphere controls left, left hemisphere controls rightbrain Dominance Theory: Right brain dominant – art, language, creative. Left brain – logical, math, organized. HOOK 1: Students were asked to describe a certain smell that reminded them of someone they knew, something from the past, etc. as a segue into the connection between memory and sense of smell in the Limbic System of the brain. Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT identify situations where this happened to them, how also music can bring back memories, and how perfume companies must make an incredible profit on this neurological connection. Students discussed different types of headaches: vascular, migraines, cluster and triggers for headaches. Seizures of different types were discussed and how to recognize a seizure in an individual and what you should do in the situation of being near someone having a seizure. A reading on “Headaches and Seizures” was read and questions answered on board.
(Part IV)DO NOW:Draw a Clock.Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT understand the different types of CNS (Central Nervous System Disease). Activity:They will take a mini-cognition test for Alzheimer’s Disease screening and discuss the role of drawing the clock in seeking further exploration into possible causes of memory loss. SWBAT understand the process and symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease, Lewey Body Dementia, Huntington’s Disease, Front Temporal Lobe Dementia, Parkinson’s Disease, and Multiple Sclerosis. The role of Myelin and what sclerosis means is explained as this will also be very important in the future lesson on Encephalitis Lethargica and the Dr. Oliver Sacks Awakenings patients from 1969. Students discusses personal stories about these topics and asked questions that I made sure to explain clearly and without causing unnecessary discomfort as I am a Social Studies Teacher and not a physician. (I make this clear daily.) READING: MY LOBOTOMY. Howard Dully © 2006
(PART V.)HOOK:“Joe’s Split Brain Surgery”Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT visualize and understand the split brain procedure (or hemispherectomy) which involves severing of the corpus callosum, the bundle of millions of nerve fibers that connect the two hemispheres of the brain.
SWBAT to understand that the procedure was performed on patients with uncontrollable epilepsy in hopes that preventing the left and right hemispheres from communicating with each other would stop the abnormal electrical activity associated with epilepsy from spreading across the whole brain. SWBAT see that split brain patients can lead normal lives but, as this film clip shows, they exhibit unusual behaviors under experimental conditions as a result of their surgery. Normally, the left hemisphere of the brain controls, and receives input from, the right, and the right from the left.Now, visual information entering the left side of the left eye is sent to the right visual cortex, and information from the right side is sent to the left visual cortex. As demonstrated by Joe, information presented to his right visual field does not cross to the left hemisphere, Joe cannot say the words presented to his right visual field, however he can draw them! Joe can, however, use his right hand to draw a simple diagram of the object he is unable to name. A student in our class has a brother who has had this procedure.
PART VI:Hook: Pupillary Reflex. Student Objectives – Specific Student OutcomesSWBAT use lights to see their neighbors pupils constrict and dilate. SWBAT compare the peripheral nervous system that controls motor and sensory neurons and the central nervous system that is comprised of the brain and spinal cord. Additionally students will learn about Neurons, Axons, Dendrites, SynapsesA neuron is a nerve cell. SWBAT explain that neurons transmit information throughout the body in both chemical and electrical forms to send information to other cells and the axon and dendrites are specialized structures designed to transmit and receive information.SWBAT understand that the connections between cells are known as a synapse. Students will then identify several types of neurotransmitters that are chemicalsthat communicate with other neurons.ACTIVITY: The Genetics Department at Utah State University has a fun interactive activity that allows students to go up to the SMART board and attempt to create their own “MAD MAD NEURON!”REVIEW: on Synapses, Neurons and Neurotransmitters follows. Students will then copy a graph that includes common neurotransmitters with a brief explanation of their purposes: Serotonin, Acetylcholine, Dopamine, GABA and Endorphins.
(PART VII: )Student Objectives – Specific Student Outcomes SWBAT understand the difference between a reflex and a reaction.Areflexis an involuntary or automatic, action that your body does in response to something - without you even having to think about it. There are many types of reflexes and every healthy person has them. In fact, we're born with most of them…and most of them fade by age 6 months. Some infant reflexes that show up in adulthood can be signs of neurological disease. SWBAT understand that reflexes protect your body from things that can harm it. Students will learn about see video clips about adult and primitive (infant) reflexes. Among the reflex video clips are: Moro (startle), Tonic (Fencers), Patellar (DTR Deep Tendon Reflex), Babinski, and even a clip of a baby kitten popular on YouTube, however what isn’t likely known is that he is demonstrating the same infantile Moro reflex a human infant would exhibit ant that it will likely disappear in 12 weeks or less. Lesson will conclude with some causes of abnormal reflexes, but with the information that most of the time an abnormal reflex is simply normal for that individual.
PART VIII).FILM: Students will be introduced to Dr. Oliver Sacks, NYT Bestselling writer and research neurologist who was responsible for “awakening” 60 patients who had been in a catatonic state in a Bronx chronic hospital for some up to 40 years by experimenting with a synthetic form of Dopamine called L-Dopa. The plague of Encephalitis Lethargica swept over the United States in the early 1920’s and is known to have caused more fatalities than soldiers in WWI. Many thought it was the Spanish Flu, but new research in the early 2000’s found that this was an autoimmune response caused by a certain type of streptococcus bacteria that damaged the part of the brain that processed Dopamine. Most, however did not survive the epidemic. The film “Awakenings” will conclude the Neuropsychology Unit and will be followed by a short real documentary clip only released by NYU Medical School that shows the real “Awakenings” patients and the young Dr. Sacks in 1969. This was released in 2011.
ACTIVITY:5th Annual “Build a Brain Contest” Date TBD.
ASSESSMENT:Written and Multiple Choice.
MIDTERM EXAM: NOV. 7th 2013.
Focus Standards:
APA (American Psychological Association) Standards for High School Psychology Curricula. apa.org.
Content Standard
1.‐Developmnent of psychology as an empirical science
1.1Define Psychology as a discipline and identify its goals as a science discipline
4.1 Define Psychology as a Neuroscience and identify its goals in medical as well as empirical discipline
This lesson is part 6 of a 7 part lesson in Neuroscience in Psychology.
Anatomy and Physiology of the Brain and Central Nervous System
Theories about Brain
Dominance, Split Brain Surgery, Spinal Cord and autonomic functions
CNS Diseases and disorders such as: ADHD, Dementia, Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson 's disease, EncephalitisLethargica, etc.
5..Historical treatment of patients with Neurological and Psychological Disorders throughout history
Sensory, Motor, Inter Neurons, Synapses, Brain Chemistry
. / NYS Common Core Standards:(Social Studies and Science) (see New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for Literacy in Science, Social Studies and Technical Subjects.
COMMON CORE STANDARDS for this lesson are as follows:
SCIENCE: Reading Standards 11‐12., RST 2, RST 4, , RST 7, RST 9, RST 10.
SOCIAL STUDIES: Reading Standards RST 1, RST 4, RST 7
SOCIAL STUDIES/HISTORY/ SCIENCE/TECH SUBJECTS 6‐12: 2a, 2d, 2e
NEW YORK STATE
LEARNING STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL STUDIES for this lesson are: (N/A) *as this is a more Science Oriented Psychology Section
NEW YORK STATE LEARNING STANDARDS for this lesson are:
SCIENCE/MATH1, 2 Commencement Level
6. Reflexes/Reactions
7. Case Study: Dr. Oliver Sacks:
What evidence will show that students understand? Discussion upon Inquiry, Written answers to Primary Source Readings & Questions, Reflection of material in individually and in groups and through writing. . Assessment involving both objective and subjective questions to ascertain level of understanding in reference to concepts addressed in Unit IV Assessment of reading, discussion and assessment on Neuroscience Test. Modeling of understanding in the “BUILD A BRAIN CONTEST”. Wrap up answers for each unit.
Notes, Activities, Tasks, Projects, Video Clips.
Interactive Activities:
Left Brain Right Brain Simulation Game
Twirling Dancer Optical Illusions
Mini-Cog/ Draw a Clock
Follow the leader Hemisphere Game
Pupillary Responses
Build a Brain Competition
Mad Mad Neuron (UNU Genetics Dept.)
Important Readings:
Readings:
How to Tell someone is Having a Stroke