InThinking Revision Sites

INTHINKING REVISION SITES

Own your learning

Why not also try our independent learning self-study & revision websites for students?

We currenly offer the following DP Sites: Biology, Chemistry, English A Lang & Lit, Maths A&A, Maths A&I, Physics, Spanish B

"The site is great for revising the basic understandings of each topic quickly. Especially since you are able to test yourself at the end of each page and easily see where yo need to improve."

"It is life saving... I am passing IB because of this site!"

Basic (limited access) subscriptions are FREE. Check them out at:

www.StudyIB.net

The Cerebral cortex

  • /
  • Options /
  • Option A - Neurobiology - Activities for learning/
  • The Cerebral cortex

This is an activity containing five short tasks which cover the important points about the cerebral cortex, its structure and function, the specific functions of those named areas named in the IB guide and some of the methods biologists have used to work out how the brain works. This is an exciting area of Biology which is advancing very rapidly.

Lesson Description

Guiding Questions

Why does an large and extensively folded cortex in humans give humans better higher order thinking skills than animals without so many folds?

What are higher order thinking skills?

Is it true that the left hemisphere controls the right side of the body?

Activity 1 - Structure and function of the cerebral cortex

Watch this short video   A scientific approach to neuroscience explanation of how specific places on the cerebral hemispheres form surfaces which information from the senses are 'projected'. (Begin at 4m10s if you are short of time)

Note

  • Different parts of the brain have specific functions.
  • Extensive folding of the cerebral hemispheres allows for an increased total surface area.
  • Humans have a large and very folded cerebral cortex - compared to animals.
  • You can study neuroscience yourself, scientifically. 

Carry out the short experiment developed by Dr. Rebekah Corlew and Theo Walker of the Max Planck Institute Florida.

The Instructions are easy to follow and you can download A sheet of "poker" cards to cut out.

Questions

This diagram show the shape of four animal brains - resized to adjust for animal body size.
(Bigger animals have bigger brains - so it wouldn't be fair to compare brain size between a mouse and a human.)

1) The cerebral hemispheres are responsible for the higher order functions of the brain.
  Place the animals in order of intelligence, the most intelligence first.

............................................................. .........................................................

2) The surface of the cerebral cortex is where most of the neurones are found. So actually it is not so much the quantity of cerebral cortex which give intelligence but the surface area.
Why is it likely that the cat is more intelligent than the squirrel monkey?

............................................................. .........................................................

............................................................. .........................................................

1) The cerebral hemispheres are responsible for the higher order functions of the brain.
  Place the animals in order of intelligence, the most intelligence first.

.Human, Chimpanzee, Squirrel monkey, Cat

2) The surface of the cerebral cortex is where most of the neurones are found. So actually it is not so much the quantity of cerebral cortex which give intelligence but the surface area.
Why is it likely that the cat is more intelligent than the squirrel monkey?

The cat is likely to be more intelligent, because the folding of its cerebral cortex gives it more surface area than the squirrel monkey

Activity 2 - Left and right cerebral hemispheres

You might like to make a cerebral hemisphere's hat. It's a wonderful activity from Helen McHenery's Basement workshop

Cerebral Hemispheres hat activity and would be a nice introduction to to the parts of the brain:

  • Visual Cortex,
  • Broca's area and the
  • Nucleus accumbens.

In this activity students will find information about the parts of the brain above and about fMRI and from the following fantastic website: Cold Spring Harbour - 3D Brain online interactive. 

Watch this
  Short video about fMRI scans

Search the 3D brain yourself for Broca's area and read about the split brain experiments.

 Listen to the   Short video about the Visual cortex and brain plasticity. Search the 3D brain yourself for for the Nucleus accumbens - which is found in the basal ganglia.

Activity 3 - Plenary questions

In small groups record what you have learned from Activity 2

What evidence did you find to support the following points?

  • The left cerebral hemisphere receives sensory input from the right side of the body and vice versa for the right hemisphere.

    ......................................................................................................................................
     
  • The left cerebral hemisphere controls muscle contraction in the right side of the body and vice versa for the right hemisphere.

    ......................................................................................................................................
     
  • Broca's area is important in the formation of sentences.

    ......................................................................................................................................
     
  • Brain plasticity allows the learning of new skills and could help in recovery after a stroke.

    ......................................................................................................................................
     
  • The Nucleus accumbens is involved in the brain's reward system, dopamine.

    ......................................................................................................................................
     

Teacher's notes

Activity 1 begins with a simple introduction to the idea that specific areas of the brain have specific function and that the surface area of the cerebral cortex surface is important. The larger the surface area then the more  brain space there is for mapping images from sensory receptors.

This is followed by the short online and lab activity to show how much brain surface is required for touch receptors in different parts of the skin.  It really is only 10 minutes, so long as the cards have been prepared before the lesson. ( A sheet of "poker" cards to cut out. )

Activity 2 could begin with a short creative activity to make a cerebral hemisphere's hat, it may be better to set this as a homework task.

The main part of activity 2 is the webquest activity on the brilliant 3D brain website.  Ideally students will have access to their own computer for this, but it would be possible to show the different bits of information on the board and allow students time to make notes ready for the plenary questions.

Activity 3 is really an opportunity to round up all the things learned, give students a chance to ask questions and to provide them with a few summary notes focused on the IB guide.

Keen students might like to install a smartphone app about the brain

3D Brain -By Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Use your touch screen to rotate and zoom around 29 interactive structures. Discover how each brain region functions, what happens when it is injured, and how it is involved in mental illness. Each detailed structure comes with information on functions, disorders, brain damage, case studies, and links to modern research.

       
DNA Learning Center