Overview | Unlike some animals, we cannot regenerate diseased or missing body parts. Or can we? In this lesson, students learn about a soldier undergoing experimental treatment to help him regrow muscle missing from his leg. Then students build models to reinforce concepts surrounding cells, tissues and organs.
Materials | Computers with Internet access, projection equipment and a variety of art materials to build models of muscles — like yarn, small pompoms, plastic wrap, cardboard tubes, glue, plastic mesh and other items (you might want to ask students to contribute materials in advance).
Warm-Up | When students arrive, direct them to walk in a large circle around the room, paying close attention to the muscles they use to walk. (Alternatively, any simple active motion can work for this warm up, like lifting a backpack or a book, or marching in place.) Ask students to identify the different motions involved in walking (lifting the knee, extending the leg and so on). Can they tell which muscles are involved in each motion?
Next, have students describe what they observed and what they already know about their muscles. What major muscle groups are found in the legs? How do muscles work? What are they composed of? How would the loss of each muscle group affect walking? What, specifically, do the quadriceps do?
You might show a short Muscle Activation During Gait animation illustrating the activation of walking muscles.
Related | The article "Human Muscle, Regrown on Animal Scaffolding" describes the experimental medical procedure that helped Sgt. Ron Strang, injured in Afghanistan, walk again.
In the months after a roadside bomb in Afghanistan blew off part of his left thigh, Sgt. Ron Strang wondered if he would ever be able to walk normally again.
The explosion and subsequent rounds of surgery left Sergeant Strang, 28, a Marine, with a huge divot in his upper thigh where the quadriceps muscle had been. He could move the leg backward, but with so much of the muscle gone he could not kick it forward. He could walk, but only awkwardly.
"I got really good at falling," he said of his efforts. And Sergeant Strang, a tall, athletic man, had to give up running.
But that was two years ago. Now he walks easily, can run on a treadmill and is thinking of a post-military career as a police officer. "If you know me, or know to look for it, you can see a slight limp," he said. "But everybody else, they go, 'I would never have guessed.' "
There is something else they would never have guessed: Sergeant Strang has grown new muscle thanks to a thin sheet of material from a pig.
Read the entire article with your class, then answer the questions below.
Background Vocabulary : You may wish to introduce students to the following words or concepts before reading: stem cells, tissue, scaffold, extracellular, bladder
Questions | For reading comprehension and discussion:
- What happened to Sergeant Strang? Describe his injury and why he needed medical help.
- What is the extracellular matrix? Where is it found? What is it composed of?
- In this experimental therapy, what role does the extracellular matrix play in repairing tissue? How are stem cells involved?
- Using a related graphic, what are the steps taken by the doctors to help Sergeant Strang?
RELATED RESOURCES
From The Learning Network
From NYTimes.com
Activity | In the article, doctors attempt to harness the body's own healing ability to recreate normal muscle in patients. In this activity, students will research skeletal muscle structure and then create models of healthy skeletal muscle cells, muscle tissue and whole muscles.
Instruct students to research the parts of a muscle and create their own models containing cells bundled into tissues and whole muscles, using any materials available. Alternatively, the class could work together, with some students creating muscle cell models, another group bundling them into tissues, and a third group arranging bundles, adding blood vessels, and connecting the entire muscle to bone. (Teachers can determine the appropriate level of complexity for the models.)
Here is some information, with links to related sites, that might be useful:
Skeletal muscle cells (also called myocytes or muscle fibers) are long, thin multinucleated cells that contain the proteins actin and myosin within sarcomeres.
A single muscle can contain thousands of muscle cells. Muscle cells group together in muscle tissue, which are bundles of cells that can contract as a unit.
Whole muscles are composed of muscle tissues, which are in turn composed of muscle cells. Muscles are banded together with connective tissue, infiltrated with blood vessels and nerves, and attached to bone in order to create movement. Specific muscles are named based on size, shape and function.
When students have finished their models, have them explain the form and function of each part to the class. Again, show students the Remodeling Muscle graphic that describes the procedure that helped Sergeant Strang walk again. Now that students have learned more about muscles, how would they modify their own models to illustrate Sergeant Strang's experience?
Going Further | Students observe a teacher-led chicken dissection demonstration. Obtain a whole raw chicken from the supermarket and allow students to investigate it. Move limbs to show how they move, then remove skin to observe muscles, ligaments and tendons. Can students identify which chicken muscle groups are analogous to those of humans (like the quadriceps, hamstrings, biceps, abdominals, etc. )? (Note: Handle raw chicken carefully to avoid salmonella contamination. Use rubber gloves, delineate a work area and thoroughly clean up with a bleach solution following the activity.)
Common Core E.L.A. Anchor Standards, 6-12:
Reading
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
Speaking and Listening:
2. Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
4. Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Language:
4. Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate.
6. Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
McREL Standards
Science
5. Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms
11. Understands the nature of scientific knowledge
12. Understands the nature of scientific inquiry
13. Understands the scientific enterprise
By ALISON FROMME 20 Sep, 2012
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Source: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/out-on-a-limb-building-muscle-models-in-science-class/?partner=rss&emc=rss
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