In this unit, you’ll work as an intern at the Development and Aging Research Center to explore content related to the nervous and endocrine systems. The Lab Leads Challenges—projects proposed by the center’s principal investigators—will ask you to apply your knowledge and skills to solve case studies. In the problem, you will have the opportunity to complete an open-ended research experiment with a model organism, C. elegans, to see how different substances affect the nervous and endocrine systems.
Table of Contents
- 2.1.1 Mind Matters
- 2.1.2 Mapping Brain Function
- 2.1.3 The Neuron
- 2.1.4 The Secret to Signals
- 2.1.5 Neuropharmacology
- 2.1.6 Ready, Set, React!
- 2.1.7 Here Comes the Hammer
- 2.1.8 Neurology Challenge
- 2.2.1 The Endocrine System
- 2.2.2 A-Mazing Worms
- 2.2.3 Reproductive Regulation
- 2.2.4 Endocrinology Challenge
- 2.3.1 Toxic Relationships
Unit 2: Research Ready
In this unit, students have accepted an internship at the Development and Aging Research
Center at a local university. The researchers in this lab are especially interested in exploring
how the brain and other parts of the nervous system change as a person ages and how the
endocrine system controls how a person’s body carries out various processes. The research
findings of this lab will inform innovations, treatments, and strategies to improve the quality of
life and longevity for people around the world.
Students explore the various labs at the research center through a virtual gaming environment.
They gather advice from career professionals and design experiments and research projects.
Students are tasked to acquire the knowledge and skills they need to gain access to the main
research laboratory, which is dedicated to solving problems that help unlock the mysteries of
the communication network in the body—the nervous and endocrine systems.
Lesson 2.1 Getting Nervous
Students begin their first day as interns at the Development and Aging Research Center. Over
the course of the lesson, students tour the facility through a 3D gaming environment, dissect a
sheep brain to visualize the connection between structure and function, complete a virtual lab
to evaluate the impact of specific drugs on signaling of neurons, and use physiological sensors
to compare reflex and reaction time. At the end of the lesson, students participate in a Lab Leads
Challenge where they apply what they have learned to diagnose a patient and model how their
condition is linked to the function of the nervous system.
Lesson 2.2 Everything Endocrine
In this lesson, students enter the Endocrinology Lab to research the role the endocrine system
plays in the development of the human body. To examine feedback loops and how the endocrine
system helps the body maintain homeostasis, students stimulate hormone action in a roleplaying game. This game uses blood sugar and insulin as the models for hormone regulation,
which students map on a graphic organizer.
Students then work in the lab with a model organism, C. elegans, designing and running
experiments to explore the impact of neurotransmitters and hormones on body function. Students
explore scientific literature as they assist a colleague in preparing a poster presentation related
to reproductive regulation. At the end of the lesson, they meet a new set of patients, analyze
their conditions, and decide what laboratory testing each patient needs to help support a final
diagnosis.
Lesson 2.3 Challenge Accepted
In the problem, students complete an open-ended research experiment with the model
organism, C. elegans, to see how heavy metals affect the nervous and endocrine systems. They
design an investigation of their choosing, run the experiment with their team, and analyze data
to make conclusions.