ND Curriculum Initiative

Subject & Standards

Needs Assessment/Rational

Learning the structure and function of the muscular system is an important component of the Anatomy and Physiology Class. It is also one that has a high interest level for the students because of the emphasis on weight lifting, applications to jobs such as sports medicine and physical therapy and the fact that we all use our muscles every day. Not only does inclusion of the muscular system fit with most anatomy and physiology text books, it also fits into several of the North Dakota Science Standards and Benchmarks as listed in the following section. In an assessment I performed at the beginning of the year, students had little or no understanding of the muscular system other than the fact that there are three types of muscle cells. Few students even showed recognition for associated terms such as actin and myosin. Some students did show knowledge of some of the names of major muscles, so this will be used as a starting point to engage the students and establish some sort of confidence as they delve into the cellular levels and begin to understand how the muscles work. I was also surprised that students didn’t show much enthusiasm or interest in studying the muscular system. Because this class is a very diverse group including students with learning disabilities, students consistently on the A+ Honor Roll and many students in-between, I feel it is crucial to include a variety of activities that will be most suitable for this group. For this reason, I have included some lecture, some kinesthetic activities, some group activities and a research project. In order to engage students and heighten interest, I included some applications to every day life including a cooking lab focusing on muscle tissue.

Understandings & Goals

Enduring Understanding: 1. I want students to understand the fact that muscle contraction is an amazing and complex process that is influenced to some degree by their health and fitness. 2. I want them to understand that the way muscles work together to allow them to move their bodies. 3. I want them to understand that the muscular system is works closely with the nervous system and skeletal system and that there is a definite “form and function” connection. Goal(s): To learn the major components of the muscular system - both macroscopic and cellular). To learn the “Sliding Filament Theory” To learn the “form and function” connection between the muscular system and other related systems, especially, skeletal and nervous. To learn the major muscles of mammals.

Questions Answered

Essential questions: 1. What are the macroscopic components of the muscular system? (What makes up your bicep?) (How do you know the steak you had for supper last night is a muscle?)2. What does this have to do with what we’ve already learned? (How is the muscle cell similar and different to those cells we keep studying year after year?) (How is the muscular system related to the nervous system?) (What tissues are involved with the muscular system?) 3. What does this have to do with what we’ll learn in the future? (How do muscles move the skeleton?) (What about muscles and nutrition and respiration and circulation?) 4. How do scientists believe that muscles contract? (How do those little cell parts allow me to lift weights, walk across the room and blink my eyes?) 5. How do muscle groups work together to move the body? (Can it be that I’m more coordinated than I thought I was?) (Can I really name all of those muscles?) Objectives: Students will label a drawing and describe the major components of the muscular starting with one muscle and ending with a sarcomere with at least 95% accuracy. Students will label a drawing and describe the cellular components of one muscle fiber with 95% accuracy. Students will draw, label and explain the structural components of one sarcomere with 90% accuracy. Students will watch a computer animation of a sarcomere contracting and explain at least five different processes that are demonstrated. Students will watch a computer animation of the sliding filament theory and be able to label and explain the main occurrences on a corresponding worksheet with 90% accuracy. Students will accurately explain at least three ways the muscular system interacts with both the nervous and skeletal system. Students will identify designated muscles on a mink with 90% accuracy. Students will identify designated muscles on a human with 95% accuracy and predict their actions with 95% accuracy.

Assessment

What quiz and test items (e.g. simple content-focused questions that require a single, best answer) will provide evidence of understanding? 1. Students will answer completion and multiple-choice questions to provide evidence of understanding necessary vocabulary related to the muscular system, especially cellular structures and major processes. 2. Students will label diagrams to provide evidence of understanding designated structures in relation to their form. 3. Students will answer questions about specific actions of computer animations showing the sliding filament theory to provide evidence that they understand this rather complex process. Questions will focus on the important events—what is required for contraction to occur and what happens as contraction occurs. 4. Students will identify muscles on the mink during several practical test opportunities—one test will involve students pulling names of muscles out of a bucket and then pointing them out to the instructor. Another test will require students to work with a partner to “label” the mink with pins and muscle names to the correct muscle. Students will be able to choose the muscles they will identify from a larger list of muscles that I will provide. What academic prompts (e.g. open-ended questions or problems that require students to think critically and then to prepare a response / product / performance) will provide evidence of understanding? 1. Students will watch computer animations and predict what will happen if certain components are changed. 2. Students will write explanations of how the muscular system interacts with other systems. 3. Students will write explanations of how particular body movements are caused by muscle contractions. What performance tasks and projects (e.g. complex challenges that are authentic, mirror the real world and require a performance or product) will you include that will provide evidence of student understanding? 1. Given the name of a muscular disorder, students will work in pairs to research the disorder, then develop and present a hypothetical case history to the class using the LDC projector and laptop computers. 2. Students will work with a partner to develop movements that they will direct the class to make as they identify muscles and movements. 3. For each of these activities, pairs of students will do a self-assessment by rating their work on the rubric. The teacher will also do the rubric and then students and teacher will compare and discuss. What other evidence (e.g. observations, work samples, dialogues, student self-assessment) of understanding will you collect? 1. Informal assessment will be done as students work on their mink dissections 2. Informal assessment will be done as students work on their models and case histories 3. Short mini-quizzes will be done as needed to assess understanding following lecture and other presentations by teacher 4. I will have students write at least two self-assessments where they tell: a. What they feel they understand b. what they still don’t understand c. What is most interesting to them

Instructional Strategies

One activity the students will participate in during the unit on the Muscular System will be a project-based activity that I modified from an activity found on the Access Excellence Activity Exchange Website (http://www.accessexcellence.org). This activity will require students to work together in pairs as they collaborate to develop their finished product. In this activity, students choose the name of a specific and real muscular system disorder such as myasthenia gravis, sprain, tetanus, Duchene’s muscular dystrophy, gas gangrene, trichinosis, steroid abuse, angina pectoris, carpal tunnel syndrome, writer’s cramp, myotonic muscular dystrophy, and rotator cuff problems.

On the first day, students will select their “disease” and receive a rubric for what will be expected of them in this activity. Students will be given one class period to research their assigned disease using the laptop lab and then will be given a reasonable amount of time to collect additional information outside of class. Students will then follow their rubric to prepare a hypothetical case history that they will present to the class as either a role play where students present information to a patient’s family or as a presentation to colleagues. They will be required to play the role of physician as they describe the patient’s symptoms and other pertinent information. They will use the computer presentation equipment to show visuals they develop or find on line that will help everyone to understand the disease, how the muscular system is affected and identify possible treatments.