The Brain

We are finished with Biomes and have moved on to the human body!

First up....THE BRAIN! Personally, I think the coolest part of the body! Do you know that the brain uses 1/5 of the energy that your body produces each day!?

 

Parents you can read and learn alittle about the brain, or read with your student and have them teach you! There is an extra credit opportunity at the end....or maybe 3....

Different parts of the brain control different functions, for example:

The Cerebrum controls your thinking and memorizing, it interprets your senses, which is why you know the difference between fresh backed cookies and a wet dog. The right side of your cerebrum controls the left side of your body, and the left side of your brain controls the right side of your body, and controls your voluntary movement such as picking up a book, giving your brother a toy to share :) or putting your dishes away :)

The cerebellum which means "little brain" coordinates your movement, it helps coordinate your movements and keeps your balance, or doing things automatically such as speaking or riding your bike so you can think about other things at the same time.

The brain stem controls involuntary movements such as breathing, blinking, digesting food, stuff you do not have to think about. So the brainstem is almost like your parents..... you always have food in the pantry, clean clothes, and clean silverware, do you think those get taken care of automatically? No, unless they are your chores, then it is something that you don't have to think about but gets done!

The hypothalamus is the bodies thermostat!  It controls when you shiver or sweat. It also wakes you up in the morning, controls your hunger and thirst.

And last but not least the spinal cord carries messgaes to the brain and different parts of the body. Just like the game we played in class when we had to "pass" the hand squeeze, many nuerons pass the message through your body!

Did you know?!

Helmets are worn by football players, they are made according to strict safety standards, but the helmets do not protect the neck or spinal cord. Because spearing, butting, and ramming can cause vertibrae in the neck to dislocate or break and, in doing so, damage or sever the spinal cord, there are strict rules against these actions.

Here is your extra credit activity, there are 3 opportunities to recieve extra points. (you can hand this in all week)

1. Why is it adaptive to have one part of the brain- the brain stem- controling involuntary actions such as breathing, while another part of the brain- the cerebrum- controls voluntary actions? (pg D 10 and D 11)

2. You learned today that the brain floats in fluid because the brain is soft-gelatinlike. There is your skull and a thick tissue to keep it in place. The brain can get injured though, a hard blow to the head can cause injury. Knowing this, why is it dangerous to shake a baby? (pg D 12)

3. As I mentioned before, the brain stem takes care of things you do not have to think about. What if you had to tell your body to digest breakfast, blink, breath, and heal, all while solving the volume of a rectangular prism in Miss Kochs class. Whew, I dont even know if I could multitask that much! :) SO, you need to write a thank you note to your brain stem for taking care of your bodys needs, and also write a 2nd thank you note to someone in your life who takes care of you! Think about who drives you to soccer, who helps you with homework, who cooks for you etc, who makes your life easier without asking them to! The brainstem thank you can be on looseleaf, but after I grade the 2nd thank you, you will give it to that person so make sure it is nice!(put some time and thought into it!)