CNS, PNS, and brain regions
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Analyze how the CNS and PNS divide labor and connect regions to functions.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
Read the notes on the central and peripheral nervous systems.
Show all 5 required steps
- Read the notes on the central and peripheral nervous systems.
- Sort five body actions into CNS-controlled and PNS-relayed pathways.
- Complete the PLTW online task on nervous-system organization.
- Match three brain regions to the functions they control.
- Submit your CNS/PNS sorting and region-function matches.
Lost your place? Lost the thread? Step 2 is sorting five body actions into CNS versus PNS. If that table is done, go to step 4 and match three brain regions to their functions before you submit.
Check your work before submitting
- You can distinguish CNS and PNS roles.
- You can match brain regions to their functions.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- CNS/PNS sorting table (five body actions classified with justification) plus three brain-region-to-function matches referenced from the Wednesday map.
How to submit and name your file
Submit your sorting table and region-function matches as a single document.
In Schoology, open your course and the assignment for this lesson. Attach your file, select Submit, and check that it appears in the submission.
PDF upload helpYou get two school days for every day you were absent, so this deadline moves with you.
Choose your Schoology section. Open only one assignment.
Check the section number beside Human Anatomy and Physiology in Schoology.
Assignment: Wk8 Lab notebook: CNS, PNS, and brain regions
Link will not open? Open Schoology, choose your section, and find the assignment title above.
How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: Each brain region runs a different set of functions, so where an injury lands determines which specific ability a patient loses. Today: The CNS integrates while the PNS transmits, and because only PNS neurons regenerate, the location of a nerve injury determines whether recovery is possible.
Unit 2 guide: what to keep and use nextOptional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: The CNS integrates while the PNS transmits, and because only PNS neurons regenerate, the location of a nerve injury determines whether recovery is possible.
- 0-8Intro: CNS vs PNS division and clinical significance
- 8-25Notes: CNS (brain + spinal cord) vs PNS (all other nerves); regeneration difference
- 25-45PLTW online task: nervous-system organization
- 45-62Sort five body actions into CNS-controlled vs PNS-relayed; justify each
- 62-75Match three (from Wednesday map) to specific functions
- 75-80Submit sorting and region-function matches; preview Friday packet
- • Yesterday you saw the brain from the outside and inside. Today we zoom out to see how it connects to the rest of the body.
- • Two divisions: the CNS is the brain and spinal cord. Everything else is the PNS. The difference matters clinically because damage to each heals differently.
- • Your sorting activity and region-function matches today are the analytical piece of this unit. Use your brain-region map from Wednesday as a reference.
- • Pathophysiology of the nervous system, what goes wrong and why, is one of the highest-weighted sections of the WebXam.
- • CNS: brain and spinal cord. Integrates sensory input and initiates motor output. Damage to CNS neurons is generally permanent because mature CNS neurons do not regenerate.
- • PNS: all cranial and spinal nerves outside the CNS. Transmits signals to and from the CNS. PNS neurons can regenerate under some conditions.
- • Neurological pathophysiology follows division lines: a stroke (CNS) causes permanent deficits on the opposite side of the body; a peripheral nerve injury may recover with time.
PLTW connection and today's work
Complete the CNS and PNS analysis task in Activity 2.1.1 Mind Matters and Activity 2.1.2 Mapping Brain Function (Lesson 2.1 Getting Nervous) on myPLTW; finish all division-of-labor and region-to-function screens before writing your analysis.
Today's stopping point: Brain-regions task is done; today the analysis task should show complete and your written analysis should be submitted.
PLTW activity titles identify the course connection. If your account will not open, use the posted materials for today and tell Mr. Mendoza. Do not mark an online activity complete unless you completed it.
Course connection
- Activity 2.1.1 Mind Matters
- Activity 2.1.2 Mapping Brain Function
Use the turn-in directions at the top of this page. Do not create a second submission unless your teacher asks for one.
Show another explanation or a smaller first step
Need help? Choose a starting point
Lesson resources: reading, slides, and vocabulary▸
The deck carries the prior idea forward, lets you inspect an analogy, maps the rule to biology, and ends with the same evidence decision and exit ticket used on this page.
Generated from this lesson's canonical data with a red-team citation check.
Each brain region runs a different set of functions, so where an injury lands determines which specific ability a patient loses.
The CNS integrates while the PNS transmits, and because only PNS neurons regenerate, the location of a nerve injury determines whether recovery is possible.
A mechanic studies a tool whose shape allows one job but limits another.
- Which feature makes the tool work?
- What changes if that feature bends or breaks?
- Which observation shows function rather than appearance?
Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
Living tissues adapt and interact with other systems; a metal tool does not.
- • Tool shape maps to .
- • The job maps to physiological function.
- • Damage maps to a predicted functional change.
Driving question: A stroke patient loses movement on the left side and never fully recovers; a construction worker severs a nerve in the arm and regains function in months. Why the opposite outcomes?
What you already know: Each brain region runs a different set of functions, so where an injury lands determines which specific ability a patient loses.
New idea: The CNS integrates while the PNS transmits, and because only PNS neurons regenerate, the location of a nerve injury determines whether recovery is possible.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for CNS, PNS, and brain regions. Use it with E1-E3; it is a model or context image, not experimental or patient data. What to notice: Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function.
- Observe or measure the relevant feature in today's lesson.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: A stroke patient loses movement on the left side and never fully recovers; a construction worker severs a nerve in the arm and regains function in months. Why the opposite outcomes?
What the evidence supports: E1-E3 and F1 support the daily take-home when the response meets the stated success criteria.
What it cannot prove: The package does not support claims beyond this lesson's or any real patient diagnosis.
- • : A nerve cell with branching dendrites that receive input and a long axon that sends an electrical signal to the next cell.
- • : A branching extension of a that receives incoming signals from other nerve cells and carries them toward the cell body.
- • axon: The long, slender fiber of a that carries electrical signals away from the cell body toward other cells.
- • : The junction where a releases chemical messengers across a tiny gap to pass a signal to the next neuron, muscle, or gland.
- • : A chemical messenger released by a that crosses the to pass a signal to the next neuron, muscle, or gland.
- • CNS: The central nervous system, made of the brain and spinal cord, which processes information and directs the body's responses.
- • PNS: The peripheral nervous system: all the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord that carry signals between the body and the central nervous system.
- • : The largest part of the brain, split into two hemispheres, that handles thinking, voluntary movement, sensation, language, and memory.
Use it now: Choose one decision option. Cite E1 and E3, then explain how the rule connects the evidence to your choice.
Go further, optional: The source links below are optional enrichment. Every fact required for today's local evidence decision appears in this lesson package.
Nervous-system function emerges from specialized structures that receive, integrate, and transmit signals, while observed behavior reflects multiple pathways and sources of variation.
Limit: A diagram, dissection, test, or reaction-time result cannot isolate every neural process or diagnose a neurological condition.
Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
Limit: Living tissues adapt and interact with other systems; a metal tool does not.
You can distinguish CNS and PNS roles.
Limit: E3 defines the classroom product or success criterion. It is not independent scientific evidence and cannot justify a clinical or causal claim.
PLTW-HAP-2027-03-12 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: anatomy and physiology consultant
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the notebook record named on today's page.
- • Credit the difference to injury severity, because all nerves heal the same way and a numb finger comes back after time.
- • Ask how long ago each injury happened and what therapy each patient received, since those also change recovery.
- • Explain the different outcomes by injury location, since PNS neurons can regenerate and mature CNS neurons generally do not.
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the notebook record.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Reason for review: Your team must decide what the evidence from today's lesson supports before submitting the notebook record named on today's page.
Context: The nervous system splits into a central integrating half and a peripheral transmitting half, and because only peripheral neurons regenerate, where the injury sits decides whether recovery is even possible.
- • T1: Read the notes on the central and peripheral nervous systems.
- • T2: Sort five body actions into CNS-controlled and PNS-relayed pathways.
- • T3: Complete the PLTW online task on nervous-system organization.
- • T4: Match three to the functions they control.
- • T5: Submit your CNS/PNS sorting and region-function matches.
- • E1: Nervous-system function emerges from specialized structures that receive, integrate, and transmit signals, while observed behavior reflects multiple pathways and sources of variation.
- • E2: Structure creates possibilities and limits for function.
- • E3: You can distinguish CNS and PNS roles.
Measurements: No patient measurement is supplied unless it appears explicitly in E1-E3 or F1. Do not invent a value.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for CNS, PNS, and . Trace the labeled structure, movement, or system relationship that connects form to function. This is a teaching model, not patient or experimental data.
Uncertainty: This is a composite classroom scenario. Missing history, measurements, or confirmation tests remain unknown and limit the conclusion.
Students often think Students often assume all nerves heal the same way, since a numb finger usually comes back after time.. The trap: That is the trap. Peripheral (PNS) neurons can regenerate under some conditions, but mature central (CNS) neurons generally do not, which is exactly why a stroke causes permanent deficits while a peripheral nerve injury may fully recover.
CNS/PNS sorting (CNS integrates and decides; PNS carries signals to and from the CNS):
- Deciding to wave hello: CNS, the brain initiates the voluntary plan.
- Sensing a hot pan on your hand: PNS, sensory nerve carries the signal toward the CNS.
- The brain interpreting that the pan is hot: CNS, integration of input.
- Muscle in your arm contracting to pull back: PNS, motor nerve carries the command to the muscle.
- Storing the memory of the burn: CNS, processed and stored in the brain.
Region-function matches:
1. Cerebrum to voluntary movement and language.
2. Cerebellum to balance and coordination.
3. Brainstem to heart rate and breathing.
| Body action | CNS or PNS | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Deciding to wave | CNS | Brain initiates the plan |
| Feeling a hot pan | PNS | Sensory nerve relays toward CNS |
| Arm muscle pulling back | PNS | Motor nerve relays command out |
| Storing the memory | CNS | Processed in the brain |
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A sorting table that classifies five body actions by whether they are integrated by the CNS or relayed by the PNS with a short justification, plus three brain-region-to-function matches carried over from the brain map.
- Date and label the entry.
- Record the procedure, observation, or design decision clearly.
- End with what the evidence means and the next step.
Keep the structure. Replace the question, facts, measurements, and evidence. Then recheck units, vocabulary, and whether the conclusion goes beyond the evidence.
Also due today: Submit your sorting table and region-function matches as a single document.
- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning: make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure, the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities. Find it in Clever with your Microsoft sign-in, right next to Schoology.
Tap the speaker to hear a term. Add two of these to your notebook glossary with a definition and an example in your own words.
Pick just 2 or 3 words from today and make them yours: write what each one means in your own words, name the context clue or evidence that helped, then give one example from what you actually did in CNS, PNS, and brain regions. Try your own words first; the glossary is there if you get stuck. This is voluntary and counts as extra credit, so keep it short.
Saved on this device. Show Mr. Mendoza or add these to your notebook glossary to claim the extra credit.
Play the cold open at the start of the unit to set the scene. Each recording is AI-generated and simulated (fictional callers, no real people or student data).
Hand-picked readings, videos, and interactives for this lesson, all free and from authoritative open organizations (NIH, CDC, OpenStax, Khan Academy, PhET, HHMI, and more).
A fillable, Cornell-style notebook for Unit 2: Research Ready. Type your notes, cues, and summaries right in the PDF, or print it and write by hand. Each lesson page has a cue column, a notes column, and a summary box, plus dated lab-record pages you can turn in.
HBS Unit 2 notebook: Research Ready Fillable PDFCornell notes + lab recordsOpenVetted readings and references for this unit. Use them to prepare, to catch up if you were absent, or to go deeper on today's target.
This site may ask you to verify you are human. If it blocks you on a school device, ask for the class copy.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about today's lesson. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
A patient has permanent paralysis after a stroke but a coworker's severed arm nerve recovers in months. Which nervous system division explains each, and why?
Write an answer and pick a confidence to unlock the key.
Fast retrieval with instant answers, not the commit-then-reveal check above. Try each from memory first: write what you remember about the earlier units, then check yourself here.
Missed class or ready for more?▸
Run this before you touch the bench. It is built from the real lab procedure, so the decisions you make here are the ones you will make with the equipment in your hands.
What today's skills lead to. These are real health-science careers this course builds toward. Tap one to see, on the US Department of Labor's O*NET site, what the job actually involves, what it pays, and how fast it is growing.
The bench work needs equipment you do not have at home. Do the thinking half now: read the procedure, write your prediction, and set up your data table so it is ready.
Back in class. Ask Mr. Mendoza for the class data set, or for a bench slot to run it yourself. Do not submit a Notebook check with invented numbers.
Class still runs. Complete the online activity above (it's self-guided). Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: Nervous System- CompleteEvery required part of the artifact is present, nothing left blank.
- AccurateThe science and the data are correct and match the evidence.
- Scientific reasoningYou explain your claim with evidence and reasoning (CER), not just an answer.
- Professional communicationClear, organized, labeled, and written the way a clinician or scientist would.
- SubmittedGo to Schoology to turn this in. Submit one PDF. Put your first and last name in the document header. Name the file: FirstName LastName - Assignment Title - YYYY-MM-DD.pdf. If you cannot get in, see Mr. Mendoza. Do not skip the work.
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