Student Exploration: Senses
Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Senses and the • On the NEURAL PATHWAYS tab, click
brain Reset ( ).
Question: What happens when stimuli are detected by sense organs?
1. Observe: Drag the apple into the Stimulus box and the tongue into the Sense
organ box. Click Play.
A. What does the tongue detect?
B. What happens along the neural pathway when the tongue detects the stimulus?
The glowing dot represents the transmission of a nerve impulse along the
nerves that make up the neural pathway. A nerve impulse is an electrical
signal that travels from one nerve cell to another.
C. Which part of the brain processes this signal?
2. Compare: Click Reset. Select the speaker for the stimulus and the ear. Click Play.
A. What part of the brain detects the signal from the ear?
B. What are similarities between this pathway and the pathway in question 1?
C. Test other stimuli that produce sound. Are all of these stimuli processed
in the same part of the brain?
, 3. Explore: Test different combinations of stimuli and sense organs. Are there any
cases where the signal is processed by more than one brain region? Are there
any cases where the signal is not processed in the brain at all? Explain.
(Activity A continued on next page)
Activity A (continued from previous page)
4. Label: Click Reset. Drag the apple to the white “Stimulus” box. Below is a
diagram of the brain with arrows to different brain regions. Test each sense
organ. Label each part of the brain with its name and the sense organ from
which it receives a signal.
5. Compare: Select the pin for the stimulus and the hand for the sense organ.
Click Play to watch how the signal is handled by the spinal cord. Click Next,
and then Play, to watch how the signal is handled by the brain.
A. How are the two pathways different?
B. Which path would occur faster, and why is this advantageous?
Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Senses and the • On the NEURAL PATHWAYS tab, click
brain Reset ( ).
Question: What happens when stimuli are detected by sense organs?
1. Observe: Drag the apple into the Stimulus box and the tongue into the Sense
organ box. Click Play.
A. What does the tongue detect?
B. What happens along the neural pathway when the tongue detects the stimulus?
The glowing dot represents the transmission of a nerve impulse along the
nerves that make up the neural pathway. A nerve impulse is an electrical
signal that travels from one nerve cell to another.
C. Which part of the brain processes this signal?
2. Compare: Click Reset. Select the speaker for the stimulus and the ear. Click Play.
A. What part of the brain detects the signal from the ear?
B. What are similarities between this pathway and the pathway in question 1?
C. Test other stimuli that produce sound. Are all of these stimuli processed
in the same part of the brain?
, 3. Explore: Test different combinations of stimuli and sense organs. Are there any
cases where the signal is processed by more than one brain region? Are there
any cases where the signal is not processed in the brain at all? Explain.
(Activity A continued on next page)
Activity A (continued from previous page)
4. Label: Click Reset. Drag the apple to the white “Stimulus” box. Below is a
diagram of the brain with arrows to different brain regions. Test each sense
organ. Label each part of the brain with its name and the sense organ from
which it receives a signal.
5. Compare: Select the pin for the stimulus and the hand for the sense organ.
Click Play to watch how the signal is handled by the spinal cord. Click Next,
and then Play, to watch how the signal is handled by the brain.
A. How are the two pathways different?
B. Which path would occur faster, and why is this advantageous?
