Secondary Principles
ED 360/361
September 30, 2013
Name
Lesson Number (Highlight)
Kayleigh Forlow
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Highlight ALL the appropriate statements
 I wrote the lesson after observing my teacher deliver the lesson
 I planned the lesson after my mentor teacher gave me the topic, materials, and standards
 I revised a lesson from my teacher or the Internet
 I observed my teacher teach this lesson during one class, and I taught it during a consecutive class (I
did not teach the entire lesson, just the neural impulse activity)
 I taught this lesson independently in my field placement
 I was videotaped teaching this lesson
Subject
Grade
Unit
AP Psychology
10th, 11th, and 12th
The Biological Basis of Behavior
Lesson Topic
The Neural Impulse and Neurotransmitters
Length of Lesson
60 minutes
STAGE 1: DESIRED RESULTS
Content Standards
(GLCEs, HSCEs, Common
Core)
• Identify basic processes and systems in the biological bases of behavior,
including parts of the neuron and the process of transmission of a signal
between neurons. (College Board AP Psychology Topics and Learning Objectives)
Essential Question(s)
What are the six main component processes of the neural impulse, and what
causes each step to occur?
In what order do the six component processes of the neural impulse process
occur?
How do the six main processes of the neural impulse work together to generate
the neural impulse?
Understanding Goal(s)
What are the functions (excitatory or inhibitory) and effects of the
neurotransmitters acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA,
and endorphins?
Students will understand what the six steps of the neural impulse are and the
order in which these steps occur; what these steps physically look like as they
occur on a microscopic level; how the steps of the neural impulse process work
together to create a neural impulse; what the functions and effects of the
neurotransmitters acetylcholine, dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA,
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Student Learning
Outcome(s)
and endorphins are; and how to identify which of the aforementioned six
neurotransmitters is at work given a hypothetical situation based on information
provided to them in the “Summary of Major Known Neurotransmitters” chart in
their unit packets.
Students will…
- identify/list the six component processes of neural impulse
- describe the six component processes of neural impulse
- sequence the six component processes of neural impulse
- create physical motions/sounds with their assigned group members that depict
the physical, chemical, or electrical processes at work in the six steps in the
neural impulse
- list/identify the six major neurotransmitters presented in “Summary of Major
Known Neurotransmitters”
- recall the functions and effects of the six major neurotransmitters presented in
“Summary of Major Known Neurotransmitters”
- apply knowledge of the functions and effects of the six major neurotransmitters
presented in “Summary of Major Known Neurotransmitters” to hypothetical
scenarios
STAGE 2: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE
Formative – Performance Tasks
Students will participate in a whole-class, teacher-led
question and answer review over the information about
the names, sequence, and functions of the various steps
in the process that creates a neural impulse by
providing answers aloud to questions posed by teacher.
Students work as a small group to create a
presentation/performance to be given in front of the
class and judge for accuracy and creativity by the
teacher that visually/kinesthetically represents the
order of the six steps of the neural impulse process and
what is physically, chemically, or electrically happening
in each step.
Students will participate in a whole-class, teacher-led
question and answer review over the information on
the neurotransmitters worksheet in their unit packet
that was completed for homework by providing
answers aloud to questions posed on the worksheet
and reiterated by the teacher.
Students will individually use the diagrams and charts
on p. 61-63 of their textbooks while completing the
Formative – Other Evidence (observations,
questioning)
During the review of the information presented on
the neural impulse from the previous class period,
the teacher will ask specific questions which
prompt the students to recall the order and
function of the process that occur in the
generation of a neural impulse; this is meant
primarily to prime the students’ recollection of this
information to prepare students for participation
in the neural impulse presentations/performances.
-
-
What are the six steps of the neural
impulse discussed in last class’s lecture
and in your textbook? In what order do
these processes occur? (Bloom’s
Remembering)
What characteristics define the resting
potential step of the neural impulse?
(Bloom’s Remembering and
Understanding—this question would be
repeated with each of the six steps after
the process was named and sequenced)
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brain anatomy chart and diagrams.
While students are working on their presentations,
teacher circulates among the groups to eavesdrop
on the plan they are creating for how to present
the steps of the neural impulse process; the
teacher will also ask students questions and
answer students’ questions about the various
stages of the process in order to clarify what is
occurring at each stage and to assess in the
moment which steps students are having trouble
with conceptualizing the physical, chemical, or
electrical processes that are occurring to elaborate
on during the presentations. For example, the
teacher might ask “Is the process that transmits
the action potential down the axon of the neuron
a chemical process or an electrical process? How
do you think the type of process at work will
impact how you show the class what is occurring
during this step?” (Bloom’s Remembering,
Understanding, and Application). Teacher will use
this assessment data to determine what steps she
will need to spend more time reviewing during the
presentations. Teacher also notes the
motions/sounds/prompts students consider using
for individual steps in order to present a cohesive
representation of the six integrated steps that
make up the neural impulse process (Bloom’s
Synthesis), making a note mentally of students’
demonstration of understanding (or lack thereof)
of how the various aspects of the neural impulse
are related to one another.
During review of neurotransmitters worksheet
from the unit packet, the teacher reads aloud the
hypothetical scenarios and pauses when the
teacher comes to the blank where the name of the
neurotransmitter whose function/effects are being
described should be filled in; the teacher does so
to allow students to give the response. The
teacher will confirm students’ responses or ask
students appropriate follow-up questions to lead
them to the right answer is or follow-up questions
to clarify what is the correct answer to an item.
For example, the teacher might ask “Which
neurotransmitter or neurotransmitters included in
the ‘Summary of Major Known Neurotransmitters’
chart is or are associated with memory and
Alzheimer’s?” (Bloom’s Knowledge) to help
students clarify which neurotransmitter is at work
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in question 1. All of the items on the worksheet
(filled-out version attached to lesson plan) are
Bloom’s Application questions.
The teacher will walk around while students are
working on the brain anatomy and function charts
and diagrams to be finished for homework, looking
over shoulder at their progress in locating,
interpreting, and transferring the necessary
information from their textbooks to their chart
and diagrams.
Summative
At the conclusion of the unit, students will take a unit test consisting of multiple
choice and essay question over the following: the characteristics of the neuron;
the process of transmitting a neural impulse; the functions and structures of the
synapse; neural plasticity and neurogenesis; the structures, organization, and
functions of the central nervous system (including the brain), the spinal cord, the
peripheral nervous system, and the endocrine system; topics on genetics,
evolution, and behavior, with a focus on the reciprocal influence between
genetics and behavior.
STAGE 3: LEARNING PLAN
Time
5 minutes
5 minutes
Activity
Teacher asks students questions to help them recall the information learned from
their textbook (Psychology: An Introduction) and the previous day’s lecture about
the six processes of neural impulse (i.e. resting potential [polarization], the
neuron is stimulated, action potential/depolarization, message travels down
axon, the vesicles release the neurotransmitters into the synaptic gap, refractory
period/repolarization), the order in which these processes occur, and what
occurs at each of these steps (physically, chemically, or electrically).
Teacher explains to the students the neural impulse actions activity, noting that
they will need to come up with a motion and/or noise for each of the six steps
and perform them in order as a group to create and present to their peers a
visual and kinesthetic representation of this process. The teacher demonstrates
what an action for one of the steps might look like (e.g. crouching down and
bouncing slightly to represent that the neuron is resting in the resting potential
state but still has a slight electrical charge running through its cell membrane).
The teacher breaks students into groups of six, gives them papers each labeled
with one step of the process, and assign students to different locations (e.g.
inside the classroom, in the hall, in a nearby classroom) to put together their
presentations. Teacher notes there will be a prize awarded for the group that
comes up with the motions that depict the process visually in the most creative
and accurate way. There should be approximately five or six groups in total.
Students meet in small groups to decide who will act out each step in the neural
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10 minutes
transmission process, decide their actions/sound effects for each of the steps,
and to practice their presentation. Teacher walks around to answer questions
about various steps in the neural impulse process, to ask questions about the
motions and sounds students are using them to encourage them to think critically
about what motions best represent each step in the process, and to encourage
students who seem hesitant about presenting to have fun with the assignment!
15 minutes
Small groups of students debut their neural impulse presentations. Teacher
facilitates these presentations, by calling on groups to perform and adding in
commentary about various steps of the process that are depicted particularly well
in the various presentations and elaborating on the specific reasons various steps
in the whole process occur (e.g. the action potential is generated when sodium
ions rush into the neuron, causing the inside of the neuron to be more positively
charged than the space outside the neuron). The teacher awards a prize to the
group with the best presentation.
10 Minutes
Teacher reviews the answers to the worksheet completed last night for
homework (included in the packet) on applying the known functions and effects
of neurotransmitters studied in the previous day’s class to hypothetical scenarios.
Teacher selects students to answer these questions from student volunteers who
raise their hands to give answers to each item. Teacher support understanding of
these neurotransmitter functions and effects displayed in the scenarios by
answering questions and providing clarification on items students were confused
about, and by referring students back to where students could locate the
information needed answer the questions in the “Summary of Major Known
Neurotransmitters” chart on the previous page of the packet. Students selfcorrect their worksheets, but do not need to turn them in until the end of the
unit when they will turn their entire packet in.
15 minutes
Teacher introduces brain anatomy and diagrams assignment to be done for
homework, and turned in at the end of the unit before the test (discussed below).
Teacher, in doing so, directs students to the pages in their textbook they should
use to fill in the chart and label the two diagrams. Teacher answers any questions
that arise about the assignment and encourages the students to get a head-start
on this assignment by giving students the remainder of the period to work on this
assignment. Teacher walks around the room during this free-work time to answer
questions and provide help on this assignment.
Homework Students will fill out the brain anatomy chart, and label and color in the structures listed in the
chart on the two brain diagrams (both are included in their ”Unit 2: The Biological Basis of Behavior” handed
out at the beginning of the unit); students are to use the diagrams and explanations provided of the functions
of the different areas and structures in the brain provided in Chapter 2 of their texts to fill out the chart and
two diagrams in their packet.
Teacher
(include
preparatio
n needed)
- answer key for
neurotransmitters worksheet
-unit packet
- Six sets of six pieces of paper,
each of the pieces with one
Materials
Student
-
-
unit packets (with completed
neurotransmitters worksheet and brain
anatomy worksheets to be filled out)
writing utensil
Psychology: An Introduction (Morris and
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step of the neural impulse
process printed on it
(to be handed out to students)
-prize (candy) to be awarded
for best presentation
I will need to make sure I
photocopy six sets of the six
sheets of paper before class.
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-
-
I will need to make sure that I
fill in accurately the answer key
for the neurotransmitters
worksheet by checking the
answers I provide against the
information incorporated in the
“Summary of Major Known
Neurotransmitters” chart
included in the unit packet.
Maisto, 12th Edition)
set of pieces of paper with steps of neural
impulse process (to be handed out by
teacher)
any props chosen to use in their neural
impulse presentations (to be found
around the classroom)
lecture notes from previous day’s class
(to help in the first question and answer
activity and in prepping for their neural
impulse performance)
I will need to make sure that all
of the students have the
neurotransmitter worksheet,
neurotransmitters chart, and
brain anatomy diagrams and
chart with them. In order to do
this I will photocopy ahead of
time five extra copies of these
resources/assigments.
Technology
Type
N/A
Learning Styles
Rationale
The original version of this lesson did not utilize any technology (see below in
‘Notes’ for how I would have incorporated technology).
Accommodations
This lesson includes both a verbal (in the question and answer session before
the performances) and a visual (the neural impulse performances) review of
the steps and process of transmitting a neural impulse, allowing for methods
of presenting this content that appeal to the learning styles of both auditory
and visual learners. Furthermore, the neural impulse performances engage
students in creating and performing physical movements to model the six
steps in the transmission of neural impulses, which will engage kinesthetic
learners more easily in understanding this content.
Gifted and Talented
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Learning Disabilities
For students with a learning disability, giving all students time to begin their
brain charts and diagrams is beneficial because it allows the teacher extra time
to work one-on-one with these students. In particular, the teacher can use this
time to scaffold for these students how to locate and interpret the information
included in the charts and figures in their textbook about the brain structures
and functions which the students need to fill out their brain structures chart
and diagrams successfully.
Emotional Impairments
ELL
Other
Notes (Optional)
One way I would have incorporated technology would have been by using a projector and a computer
to show a YouTube video of the steps of the neural impulse (e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JTQSB_IIaA) when reviewing the order, and functions of the
various steps in this process. Using this video would have a facilitated review of the different parts of
the process in a visual way in addition to already having done so verbally, and would help both students
who are visual learners and other students to conceptualize the individual steps in transmitting a neural
impulse, and how these steps happen sequentially, and how the steps are contingent on the prior and
latter step to transmit the impulse successfully.
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