Sending and Receiving Messages (Module 3)

Additional Activities

Below are some additional activities that can be used after completion of the third mission. These activities are extensions to many other areas of the curriculum.

1. Divide the students into pairs and give each pair a set of trading cards. Have the pairs read the cards together and discuss them. Ask them if they have a favorite card. If so, have them give reasons for their choice.

2. Have each student design a trading card. The cards can show an activity, a brain, or a picture of how messages travel. Encourage students to use what they learned in the previous two modules when developing their trading cards.

3. Play neuroscience "Jeopardy." Possible categories could be "Scientific Inquiry," "Parts of the Brain," "How Messages Travel," and "Different Kinds of Scientists." Using all the materials learned to date, develop questions in each category. This is a good way to find out how much students have learned.

4. Have students make a three-dimensional communication network in your classroom. Have students create connections using string or rope to show how information travels. Make sure that students have messages traveling in one direction to a location designated as the brain, then back in the other direction.

5. Put on a class play about how messages travel throughout the body. Encourage students to create a scenario where having messages travel fast makes a big difference. For example, smelling smoke and then calling 911 prevents a house from burning down.