Pipe cleaner neurons

Originally developed by neuroscience education expert Dr. Eric Chundler (University of Washington) and adapted by Dr. Liz Engler-Chiurazzi (Tulane University)/Astro Fight (Brains & Bruises Blog), this activity uses common crafting materials to make a key chain that also teaches about the parts of neurons.

 Background Information:

Neurons, or nerve cells, are one type of cell found in the nervous system. The nervous system is made up of your brain, spinal cord and nerves. It is very full of cells. Brilliant neuroscientist (a person who studies the brain and how it works) Dr. Suzanne Herculano-Houzel did the math. She figured out that there are about 86 BILLION neurons in the typical human brain. That’s a lot!

Neurons have a very important job. They create and control all our thoughts, feelings, and actions. To do this, neurons interpret information and communicate with each other and other parts of the body.

 

There are five parts to each neuron: the soma, the axon, the terminal buttons, the synapse, and the dendrites. The soma or cell body is where the organelles (small organs) of the cell are found. They make the cell work or tell the cell what to do. Some important organelles include:

·       the nucleus, where genes are stored. Genes provide the instructions for what the cell should be doing

·       the mitochondria, where energy the cell needs to work is made

·       lysosomes, the garbage can of the cell where things the cell doesn’t need any more are brought to be disposed of

 

The axon is like a long, thin part of the cell that comes off the soma. When a neuron gets messages from its neighbors, the neuron experiences an electrical response called an action potential. A bit like how you move air from your lungs through your throat when you want to speak, the axon serves as the place through which this electrical message is moved within the neuron. This signal moves from the soma to the terminal buttons at end of the axon.

 

The terminal buttons are located at the ends of the axon. This is where the chemical messages called neurotransmitters are prepared. You can think of the terminal button like a mouth; the neurotransmitters would be a bit like the words a mouth speaks.

 

The synapse is the place where two neurons meet. It may not look like it, but the neurons don’t actually touch. Instead, there is a small distance between them. Electrical signals from the soma cause neurotransmitters in the terminal buttons of one neuron to be released. They float across the synapse and meet with another neuron.

Often (but not always!) the neurotransmitters connect with the dendrites of the neighboring neuron. Once a neurotransmitter stimulates the dendrite of another neuron, signals relaying the message are sent to the soma and the whole process repeats within the next neuron

Pipe Cleaner Neuron Activity Instructions

Ages: 5-11 years old

Supplies Needed (total cost~ $20; makes 75-100):

  • Pack of Pipe Cleaners (various colors)                                                                  $5-10    

  • Plastic barrel-shaped beads (various colors)                                                        $5-10     

  • Metal key chain rings                                                        $5-10 

Preparation:

  • Cut some pipe cleaners into halves                                                         

  • Cut some pipe cleaners into quarters

  • Place pipe cleaners of each size in storage bins or similar for easy access

Activity Instructions:                                                                       5-10 minutes for groups of 3-5 kids/caregivers

  1. Introductions

    a.   Share your regular and/or derby name and state that you play roller derby. Give a 30 sec explanation for anyone who is unfamiliar

    • “Roller derby is a very fun, full contact sport played on roller skates where the team that earns the most points wins. On each team there is a jammer, who scores points by getting around all the other players. There are also four blockers, who each try to help their jammer score points while trying to stop the other team’s jammer”.

    b. Ask each child their name and what kind of sport they play or physical activity they engage in. Note that some kids don’t play sports but you can ask if they like hiking, riding a bicycle, skate-boarding, etc.

    c. Ask kids to identify where their brains are

    d. Explain the activity

    • “In sports we use our brains a lot so today we will be learning about the athlete’s brain and the brain cells, or neurons, that allow us to do all our amazing sports feats.”    

  2. Create the cell body/soma

a.    Hold a key chain ring

b.     Thread the large pipe cleaner through the key chain ring

c.     Using the whole length pipe cleaner, form a circle/oval around the key chain ring and pinch. (HINT: should look like the shape of a fish).

d.     Begin twisting the ends around each other until only two small tails remain.  

 

3. Create the axon

a.     Starting at the base of the circle part of the cell body, wrap the medium pipe cleaner around the long portion of the neuron until you reach the tails.

b.     Thread the beads onto the axon. These represent the sections of the myelin  sheath, a ‘skin’ that goes around the axon to insulate the electrical signals that move through the axon.

 

4. Create the dendrites

a.     Using four (4) quarter length pipe cleaners, one at a time, place each around a section of the circular part of the cell body.

b.     Pinch in the shape of a ‘V’.

c.     Begin twisting the ends of the ‘V’ around themselves until two small tails remain.

d.     Repeat this process for the remaining quarter-length pipe cleaners.

5. Build a neuron network

a.     Have each child line up their neurons in a row, the terminals of one neuron touching the dendrites of the next neuron

b.     Explain that neurons pass information ‘messages’ from cell body through their axon down to their terminals, across the synapse, and to the dendrites of the next neuron