Purpose: This activity aims to teach children about the areas of the brain, the formation of the brain and spinal cord during prenatal development, and the consequences of incomplete fusion of the neural plate in utero. It may be connected to elementary students’ personal experiences with spina bifida, or their questions about prenatal development and recent news stories on prenatal surgery.

Objectives

Students will

• share their background knowledge (and naive conceptions) related to brain structure and development.
• construct models to represent areas of the brain and spinal cord.
• identify areas of the brain.
• discuss impairments that result from spina bifida

Science Content

The brain consists of four distinct regions.
Different parts of the brain are responsible for different functions.
The spinal cord may not fully develop before birth, resulting in impairment.

Science Process Skills

Observation
Inference
Formulating hypotheses
Making Connections
Communicating
Modeling
Predicting
Reasoning

Materials

K-W-L Chart
Models or illustrations of brain
Illustrations of spina bifida
disposable sanitation gloves for everyone
paper plates
2 uncooked crescent rolls per student group
1 uncooked wiener per group
1 knife
cooking sheets
oven or toaster oven(s)
oven mitts and hot pads
spatula
ketchup
mayonnaise
cheddar easy-cheese
mustard
paper towels
baby wipes
extra trash bags

SAFETY

Prepare edible items wearing disposable sanitation gloves.
Handle hot objects with care.
Do not require students to eat their finished model.

Teacher Advanced Preparation Pictures and more background information of spinal cord and brain development are available at http://www.spinabifida.org/ and http://www.sbaa.org. These pictures can be copied and enlarged to assist in explaining the process of neural development and spina bifida.. Color a picture of a fully developed brain to coordinate with the condiments you will use. For example, the cerebrum/forebrain may be red to be represented by ketchup, cerebellum/midbrain mustard yellow, brain stem/hindbrain white mayonnaise, and the spinal cord covered by cheddar easy-cheese orange.

Make and bake one crescent roll model that is not completely covered with dough to represent spina bifida caused by incomplete fusion of the neural plate.

Procedures

Give each child or small group of children sanitary gloves, a paper plate with 2 uncooked crescent rolls in the shape of a rectangle, and a wiener with an incomplete transverse cut in the middle. The dough represents the neural plate. The cut wiener represents the bendable spinal cord.

[Insert Step 1 Diagram about here]

Students roll the wiener completely in the dough. A small tip of the wiener should be exposed at one end to represent the spinal cord.

[Insert Step 2 and 2 Diagrams about here]

Bend the entire crescent roll to represent the real structure at this stage of development.

[Insert Step 4 diagram about here]

Students squeeze the rolled-up crescent rolls in thirds to create bumps that will indicate the different sections of the brain. These include the cerebrum, cerebellum, brain stem, and spinal cord.

[Insert Step 5 and 6 Diagrams about here]

Have students place their models on a baking sheet in such a way that they can get their own back. Bake for approximately 10 minutes at the temperature indicated on the crescent roll package.

While the brain models are baking, explain the concept of spina bifida using the pre-made model. Use pictures, illustrations and personal examples to clarify what spina bifida looks like and how it affects people. Briefly explain that not everyone’s spinal cord is completely enclosed as it should be at birth, and that many physical problems can result for the person. Explain that there are varying degrees, and that people can be helped through physical therapy. Stress that persons challenged with the effects of spina bifida should be treated with sensitivity.

After the wieners are done, distribute them to their owners. The four condiments can then be used to cover the appropriate areas of the brain and spinal cord, as illustrated on your chart.

[Insert Step 7 Diagram about here]

Assess students’ learning by asking them to explain their models and by following up on the K-W-L chart. Students who can respond correctly or add appropriate comments to the discussion may consume their finished product, if desired. Have students be responsible for cleaning up with paper towels, wet-wipes, and trash bags.

Vocabulary

Embryo - a developing baby within the mother

In utero - in the mother before birth

Spinal cord- a cable of nerve tissue in the backbone connected to the spinal cord at the base of the skull.

Spina bifida- a spinal defect that may be present at birth when several vertebrae do not develop completely and cannot enclose the spinal cord.

Neural plate -bony structure surrounding the spinal cord.

Cerebrum - large part of the brain consisting of two large lobes or hemispheres, certain areas of which control particular processes of thought and voluntary muscular movement

Cerebellum - part of the brain that controls the coordination of the muscles.

Brain stem - base of the brain lying beneath the cerebrum and the cerebellum, which connects the spinal cord with the forebrain.