NERVOUS SYSTEM LAB

Purpose: To demonstrate several functions of your central and peripheral nervous system. Procedures: Travel to each of the stations and follow the procedures for that station. Record your observations for each station in the data section below. Data: HEARING STATION Complete the table below. YEAR SOUND YEAR

SOUND YEAR

SOUND YEAR

SOUND YEAR

SOUND

1. According to your data, what year did the U.S. government change the material used in making the penny? ______ 2. Did you find it easy or hard to determine your answer? Explain!____________________ ______________________________________________________________________ TOUCH STATION

Ask the student if they felt one or two pressure points. If your subject reported one point, spread the tips of the clip a bit further apart, then touch the back of the subject's hand again. If your subject reported 2 points, push the tips a bit closer together, and test again. Measure the distance at which the subject reports "I feel two points." Repeat this for the students fore arm, upper arm, fingers, calf, cheek and forehead. Record the distances required for the student to feel 2 points on your paper. VISION STATION Experiment #1 Depth perception is the ability to judge objects that are nearer or farther than others. Use each of your hands to hold the end of one of the pencils. Hold the pencils horizontally, facing each other at arms-length from your body. Close your right eye. Try to touch the ends of the pencils together. Next, close the left eye and repeat. Finally, attempt to touch the ends of the pencils while both eyes are open. Record your results on your paper. Experiment #2 Look at an object in the distance (20-30 feet away), like the clock at the front of the room. Close your right eye, hold up your arm and line up your finger with the object. Now without

moving your finger or your head, close your open (left) eye and open the closed (right) eye. The object in the distance will appear to jump to the side...your finger will no longer be lined up. This shows that different images fall on each eye.

BRAIN/MUSCLE COMMUNICATION STATION This experiment deals with information sent to the brain from MUSCLES. Although we may not realize it, our muscles are constantly feeding information to the brain about what they are doing. To illustrate this, we will be using two identical bags and filling them with beans. The bags are labeled so that your lab group can tell the difference between one container with the letter "A" and the other with the letter "B". Fill each container half way up with exactly the same amount of water (or beans or rice or marbles). Put one container in each hand of a blindfolded subject. The weights should feel the same. Now, add a known amount of water (or beans or rice or marbles) to the container with the letter "A" (to remember, the letter "A" is for "Add"). Give the containers back to the subject and ask if the weights feel the same or different. If the subject says "Different", ask which container is heavier. Is it a right guess? If it is, remove the containers, then place them back on the subject's hands and ask again to make sure it wasn't a lucky guess. If the subject cannot tell the difference between containers or the guess was wrong, add another known amount of material to container "A". Test the subject again until the subject can detect a difference between container weights. VISUAL RESPONSE STATION Hold the ruler near the end (highest number) and let it hang down. Have the test subject put his or her hand at the bottom of the ruler, ready to catch the ruler. Tell the test subject that you will drop the ruler sometime within the next 5 seconds. When the ruler is dropped, the test subject must try to catch the ruler as fast as they can. Record the level (centimeters) at which they catch the ruler, and convert the distance into a reaction time using the chart below). Test the same person 3 to 5 times (vary the time of dropping the ruler within the 5 second "drop-zone" so the other person cannot guess when you will drop the ruler). REFLEX STATION You may recognize this test from your last check up at the doctors office. In this test, the doctor hits your knee at a spot just below your knee cap. Try it! Have a partner sit with his or her legs crossed so that his leg can swing freely. Hit his leg just below the knee with the side of your hand. SCENT STATION Each of the 5 cups on the table are filled with liquid that contains a mixture of juice and water. The concentrations of juice/water are different for each sample. Using only the sense of smell,

try to determine the order of juice concentration. On your paper, rank each sample from least concentrated to most concentrated. WORD RECALL (MEMORY) STATION Here are three lists of words: concrete words, abstract words and nonsense words. See which list is easier to remember. Select one of the word lists. Read through the list of words once. When you are done, turn the list over and write down as many words as you can remember. Repeat this for all three lists.