Pre-Trip Lesson:

1. Using masking tape, create a 10-20’ line on the floor in an area free of obstacles.  Have students take turns walking on the line, then have a volunteer be spun around several times.  With the rest of the class spotting the volunteer for safety, have him/her try to walk the line.  Discuss why it was more difficult to walk the line after being spun.

2. Have the class draw a diagram of what they think makes our body able to balance.  Ask students who illustrated components of a fluid-based system to explain their diagram.  Explain the semicircular canals of the inner ear.

3. Working in groups, have students glue the fake eyelashes to the inside of a jar and fill the jar with enough water to cover the eyelashes and place on the turntable.

4. Using the new semicircular canal model, have the students perform the following tasks and answer the associated questions:

· Spin the jar clockwise and then counterclockwise.  How does the direction of rotation affect the direction in which the hairs bend? (They will bend in the opposite direction of the rotation.)

· Time how long it takes the hairs to stop moving after the jar is spun 90 degrees and then stopped and again after 180 degree rotation. (There should be no significant time difference because the stop was sudden and the movement was not continuous.)

· Spin the jar for one minute and then stop it suddenly.  Describe the motion of the hairs when you were spinning the jar?  (After a short time, the hairs and the water moved together.)  What happened when the jar stopped suddenly?  (The water caused the hairs to move forward for several seconds.)

· What do you think happens to our semicircular canals if we spin our bodies for a minute and then stop?  (The hair cells keep moving in the direction of the spinning and we feel dizziness.)

 

Valley Worlds of Fun Activity:  What role do our eyes play in balance?

1. Ask students if they have ever had motion sickness and what they were doing.  (Often, motion sickness results from constant motion of our hair cells in our ear, while we are reading or not observing the motion we are feeling.  This can happen when sitting backwards looking out a side window of a moving car.)

2. Working in small groups, have students use their knowledge of the inner ear and their personal experience to develop a theory of why we feel motion sickness.  (Groups could use the small white boards to present their theories.)

3. Students will complete the Out of Balance Worksheet.  Working in pairs, one student will walk across the Moon Walk while the other observes.  Each student will walk across the Moon Walk 3 times.  They will also walk across the Moon Walk while blindfolded.  Their partner should record their observations.

4. When they have completed their experiment they are to generate ideas on how to walk across without becoming disoriented.  If possible they should test their ideas if time and equipment permits.

5. Finally, bring the students together as a group.  Have them discuss what they observed.  (Students will report feeling very dizzy and not being able to walk straight with out using the railing.)  Why did you feel dizzy?  (The movement wasn’t coming from our neurovestibular system, so the sense of motion was coming from our eyes and stimulating the part of our brain which responds to real motion to compensate for the apparent motion.)

Approximate location of the five primary sensory areas and the primary motor cortex, and approximate locations of the primary, secondary and tertiary sensory and motor cortices from: http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~stuart/thesis/chapter_3/chapter3.html

 

Instructional Materials: blindfolds, Out of Balance Worksheet masking tape, hot glue gun, fake eyelashes, Lazy Susan or other rotating device like a turntable

 

Differentiated Instruction:

· Depending on availability of materials, time, and age of the students, the teacher could demonstrate the glass jar model of the inner ear rather than have group work.

· Using different viscosity fluids in place of the water, explore the impact on the movement of the hairs.

 

Author's Comments: Be aware of any students that may have problems with motion sickness.  They can just do the observation portion of the exercise to avoid becoming sick.

 

Assessment/Evaluation:

1. Completion of the Out of Balance Worksheet

2. Have students illustrate a brochure that could be used at Valley Worlds of Fun to explain to visitors how balance works and why they feel dizzy when crossing the Moon Walk.  The brochure must integrate the new terms learned during these lessons, include diagrams and explanations of the inner ear, and use proper grammar and spelling.  Assignment could be paper based or could be completed using desktop publishing software such as MS Publisher.  Grade based on rubric provided (See Out of Balance Rubric) or using a teacher made rubric using http://rubistar.4teachers.org.

 

Resources:

· Diagram of Ear from:  http://depts.washington.edu/otoweb/patients/pts_specialties/pts_hear-n-bal/images/inner_ear.jpg

· Pre-trip lesson was modified from: NASA Explorers website based on the article Motion Sickness: It’s All In Your Head, http://www.nasaexplores.com/show2_articlea.php?id=01-040

· A good site which has good illustrations of the inner ear: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/eari.html

· Images and additional information on Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Brain Function: http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~stuart/thesis/chapter_3/chapter3.html

Text Box: Subject(s): Physiology   Grade/Level: 3-12   Time Required: 1 class period prior to visit for preparation 1 hour at Valley Worlds of Fun for this activity 1 hour in the resource room or your classroom for completion of worksheet and discussion   WV State Standards: Human Anatomy and Physiology Grades 9-12  HAP.1: participate in activities that consider alternate, changing points of view to stimulate the development of a sense of inquiry  HAP.2: recognize general limitations of science  HAP.5: model and exhibit the skills, attitudes and/or values of scientific inquiry (e.g., curiosity, logic, objectivity, openness, skepticism, appreciation, diligence, integrity, fairness, creativity)  HAP.7: apply scientific approaches to seek solutions for everyday problems (e.g., personal, community health, population growth, natural resources, environmental quality, natural and human induced hazards and scientific and technological challenges)  HAP.8: demonstrate science processes within a problem solving setting (e.g., observing, measuring, communicating, comparing, ordering, categorizing, classifying, relating, hypothesizing, predicting, inferring and applying)  HAP.16: design, conduct, evaluate and revise experiments (e.g., identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations, design and conduct scientific investigations, use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications, formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence, recognize alternative explanations, communicate and defend a scientific argument, understand about scientific inquiry)  HAP.17: engage in active inquiries, investigations and hands-on activities for a minimum of 50 percent of the instructional time to develop conceptual understanding and laboratory skills  HAP.19: conduct explorations in a variety of environments (e.g., laboratories, museums, libraries, parks and other outdoors locations)  HAP.20: use computers and other electronic technologies (e.g., computer, CBL, probe interfaces, laser discs) to collect, analyze and/or report data, interact with simulations, and research  HAP.32: recognize the relationship between the skeletal, neural, and muscular systems.  HAP.34: classify, describe, and investigate the various types of neurons emphasizing structure and function.  HAP.38: apply the knowledge of the structure of the ear and eye to their function/disfunction in relationship to environmental perception.  HAP.70: demonstrate skills in use of word processing, data bases, spreadsheets, graphics and telecommunications  HAP.72: incorporate correct grammar, spelling, vocabulary and graphical representation for both written and oral multimedia presentations.   Objective(s): This lesson explores the function of the inner ear, the importance of perception and balance.   Procedure:   Pre-Trip Background Information: The inner ear consists of tiny fluid-filled canals encased in some of the hardest bone in the body and are responsible for helping maintain balance.  These tiny accelerometers which help us sense motion and gravity are known as the neurovestibular system.  Three semicircular canals are oriented at right angles to each other and when we turn our head, the relative movement of fluid in these canals is sensed by small hair cells and lets our brain know which way and how much we are turning. Another part of the inner ear called the otoliths responds to the gravitational force and lets our brain know the static position of our head.  As a person changes positions, gravity pulls the tiny clumps of calcified crystals in the otoliths down and bends hairs in the inner ear; then the more than 20,000 nerve cells sense the crystal and hair movements in each ear and tell the brain the head's position. Pre-Trip Lesson: 1. Using masking tape, create a 10-20’ line on the floor in an area free of obstacles.  Have students take turns walking on the line, then have a volunteer be spun around several times.  With the rest of the class spotting the volunteer for safety, have him/her try to walk the line.  Discuss why it was more difficult to walk the line after being spun. 2. Have the class draw a diagram of what they think makes our body able to balance.  Ask students who illustrated components of a fluid-based system to explain their diagram.  Explain the semicircular canals of the inner ear. 3. Working in groups, have students glue the fake eyelashes to the inside of a jar and fill the jar with enough water to cover the eyelashes and place on the turntable. 4. Using the new semicircular canal model, have the students perform the following tasks and answer the associated questions: · Spin the jar clockwise and then counterclockwise.  How does the direction of rotation affect the direction in which the hairs bend? (They will bend in the opposite direction of the rotation.) · Time how long it takes the hairs to stop moving after the jar is spun 90 degrees and then stopped and again after 180 degree rotation. (There should be no significant time difference because the stop was sudden and the movement was not continuous.) · Spin the jar for one minute and then stop it suddenly.  Describe the motion of the hairs when you were spinning the jar?  (After a short time, the hairs and the water moved together.)  What happened when the jar stopped suddenly?  (The water caused the hairs to move forward for several seconds.) · What do you think happens to our semicircular canals if we spin our bodies for a minute and then stop?  (The hair cells keep moving in the direction of the spinning and we feel dizziness.)   Valley Worlds of Fun Activity:  What role do our eyes play in balance? 1. Ask students if they have ever had motion sickness and what they were doing.  (Often, motion sickness results from constant motion of our hair cells in our ear, while we are reading or not observing the motion we are feeling.  This can happen when sitting backwards looking out a side window of a moving car.) 2. Working in small groups, have students use their knowledge of the inner ear and their personal experience to develop a theory of why we feel motion sickness.  (Groups could use the small white boards to present their theories.) 3. Students will complete the Out of Balance Worksheet.  Working in pairs, one student will walk across the Moon Walk while the other observes.  Each student will walk across the Moon Walk 3 times.  They will also walk across the Moon Walk while blindfolded.  Their partner should record their observations. 4. When they have completed their experiment they are to generate ideas on how to walk across without becoming disoriented.  If possible they should test their ideas if time and equipment permits. 5. Finally, bring the students together as a group.  Have them discuss what they observed.  (Students will report feeling very dizzy and not being able to walk straight with out using the railing.)  Why did you feel dizzy?  (The movement wasn’t coming from our neurovestibular system, so the sense of motion was coming from our eyes and stimulating the part of our brain which responds to real motion to compensate for the apparent motion.) Approximate location of the five primary sensory areas and the primary motor cortex, and approximate locations of the primary, secondary and tertiary sensory and motor cortices from: http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~stuart/thesis/chapter_3/chapter3.html   Instructional Materials: blindfolds, Out of Balance Worksheet masking tape, hot glue gun, fake eyelashes, Lazy Susan or other rotating device like a turntable   Differentiated Instruction: · Depending on availability of materials, time, and age of the students, the teacher could demonstrate the glass jar model of the inner ear rather than have group work. · Using different viscosity fluids in place of the water, explore the impact on the movement of the hairs.   Author's Comments: Be aware of any students that may have problems with motion sickness.  They can just do the observation portion of the exercise to avoid becoming sick.   Assessment/Evaluation: 1. Completion of the Out of Balance Worksheet 2. Have students illustrate a brochure that could be used at Valley Worlds of Fun to explain to visitors how balance works and why they feel dizzy when crossing the Moon Walk.  The brochure must integrate the new terms learned during these lessons, include diagrams and explanations of the inner ear, and use proper grammar and spelling.  Assignment could be paper based or could be completed using desktop publishing software such as MS Publisher.  Grade based on rubric provided (See Out of Balance Rubric) or using a teacher made rubric using http://rubistar.4teachers.org.   Resources: · Diagram of Ear from:  http://depts.washington.edu/otoweb/patients/pts_specialties/pts_hear-n-bal/images/inner_ear.jpg · Pre-trip lesson was modified from: NASA Explorers website based on the article Motion Sickness: It’s All In Your Head, http://www.nasaexplores.com/show2_articlea.php?id=01-040 · A good site which has good illustrations of the inner ear: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/eari.html · Images and additional information on Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Brain Function: http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk/~stuart/thesis/chapter_3/chapter3.html