Drug effects on signaling
Open your materials, follow the steps, then turn in your work.
Analyze your reaction-time data and explain how drugs alter neural signaling with a CER.
1. Open your materials
Use the materials named in the first step below. Open lesson resources.
2. Start the work
Graph your reaction times by condition.
Show all 5 required steps
- Graph your reaction times by condition.
- Describe how the distraction or a drug would shift the results.
- Complete the PLTW online analysis on drugs and synaptic signaling.
- Write a CER claiming how a depressant or stimulant would change reaction time, using your data pattern as evidence.
- Submit your labeled graph and signaling CER.
Lost your place? Picking back up? Check that your reaction times are graphed by condition (step 1). If so, complete the PLTW analysis on synaptic signaling, then write your CER predicting a depressant or stimulant effect using your data pattern, and submit graph plus CER.
Check your work before submitting
- You can graph and interpret reaction-time differences.
- You can explain drug effects on signaling with a CER.
3. Turn in your work
DueCheck Schoology- Hand in
- Bar graph of baseline vs distraction average reaction time (labeled, with units) plus a CER explaining how a depressant or stimulant would alter the pattern via synaptic mechanism.
How to submit and name your file
Submit graph and CER as a single combined 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: Wk9 CER: Drug effects on signaling
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How this lesson connects
Keep using what you learned last class: Reaction time is a single measurable variable that reflects the whole pathway from stimulus to movement, so a consistent multi-trial protocol gives you evidence that adding a distraction lengthens that pathway by a countable amount. Today: Drugs shift reaction time by changing neurotransmitter availability or receptor sensitivity at synapses, so your measured distraction delay works as evidence to predict a depressant's or stimulant's effect and its direction.
Unit 2 guide: what to keep and use nextOptional: listen or watch a unit review▸
Need help? Warm-up, timing, and directions▸
💡 Big idea: Drugs shift by changing availability or sensitivity at synapses, so your measured distraction delay works as evidence to predict a depressant's or stimulant's effect and its direction.
- 0-8Intro: how depressants and stimulants alter synaptic
- 8-25Build bar graph: baseline vs distraction average
- 25-45PLTW online analysis: drugs and synaptic signaling
- 45-55Describe observed trend and predict direction of drug effect
- 55-75Write CER: depressant or stimulant effect on , mechanism at
- 75-80Submit labeled graph and CER
- • Your is now a scientific instrument. Today you use it to reason about drug effects on the nervous system.
- • Drugs work at the . They either make faster or slower. Your distraction condition shows what slower looks like in your data.
- • Your graph goes condition on the X-axis, average on the Y-axis. Error bars if you have them. Title, labeled axes, units.
- • The CER picks one drug class, claims the direction of its effect on your reaction-time pattern, and explains the mechanism at the level.
- • Depressants (alcohol, antihistamines, opioids, benzodiazepines) slow synaptic by enhancing or blocking excitation, increasing .
- • Stimulants (caffeine, amphetamines) accelerate synaptic by increasing excitatory release or blocking reuptake, decreasing .
- • A data-based CER about drug effects must use the observed distraction-condition pattern as the analogy: if distraction slowed reaction by X ms, a depressant would be expected to slow it further and in a similar way.
PLTW connection and today's work
Complete the signaling-analysis task in Activity 2.1.4 The Secret to Signals (Lesson 2.1 Getting Nervous) on myPLTW; the drug content lives in the optional Activity 2.1.5 Neuropharmacology if your class runs it. Finish all screens before writing your CER about drug effects.
Today's stopping point: Lab task is done; today the analysis task should show complete and your CER 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 2.1.4 The Secret to Signals
- Activity 2.1.5 Neuropharmacology (optional)
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.
is a single measurable variable that reflects the whole pathway from to movement, so a consistent multi-trial protocol gives you evidence that adding a distraction lengthens that pathway by a countable amount.
Drugs shift by changing availability or sensitivity at synapses, so your measured distraction delay works as evidence to predict a depressant's or stimulant's effect and its direction.
A smoke alarm detects signs of fire but can also react to burnt toast.
- What does the alarm detect?
- What creates a false alarm?
- What evidence is needed before declaring a fire?
A screening signal changes what to investigate next; it does not automatically prove the cause.
Biomedical tests have measured performance and biological sampling limits that a household alarm does not capture.
- • Alarm signal maps to a test result.
- • Burnt toast maps to a .
- • Inspection maps to confirmation or the next test.
Driving question: Your distraction condition slowed your reaction by a measured number of milliseconds; using that pattern as evidence, how would a depressant like alcohol be expected to shift the same result, and in which direction?
What you already know: is a single measurable variable that reflects the whole pathway from to movement, so a consistent multi-trial protocol gives you evidence that adding a distraction lengthens that pathway by a countable amount.
New idea: Drugs shift by changing availability or sensitivity at synapses, so your measured distraction delay works as evidence to predict a depressant's or stimulant's effect and its direction.
Visual or model: F1. F1. A lesson illustration or teaching diagram for Drug effects on signaling. 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 drug effects on signaling.
- Organize the observation with a stable evidence ID.
- Apply this rule: A screening signal changes what to investigate next; it does not automatically prove the cause.
- Choose the option the evidence supports and state the limit of the conclusion.
Real biomedical example: Your distraction condition slowed your reaction by a measured number of milliseconds; using that pattern as evidence, how would a depressant like alcohol be expected to shift the same result, and in which direction?
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 fast, automatic response to a that travels through the spinal cord, protecting the body before the brain consciously decides to act.
- • : The short interval between when a appears and when a person responds to it, reflecting how fast the nervous system processes signals.
- • : Any change in the environment, such as light, sound, or temperature, that a living thing can detect and respond to.
- • response: The body's reaction to a detected , carried out by muscles or glands to adjust to a change in the internal or external environment.
- • : A fatty insulating layer wrapped around nerve fibers that speeds up the electrical signals traveling along them.
- • : A , often on the cell surface, that binds a specific signal molecule and triggers a response inside the cell.
- • : The muscle, gland, or other part that carries out the body's response to a signal, acting on the command sent from a control center.
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.
A screening signal changes what to investigate next; it does not automatically prove the cause.
Limit: Biomedical tests have measured performance and biological sampling limits that a household alarm does not capture.
You can graph and interpret reaction-time differences.
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-2027-03-18 · Simulated classroom evidence scenario
Your role: anatomy and physiology consultant
Decision: Your team must decide what the evidence from drug effects on signaling supports before submitting the claim-evidence-reasoning response named on today's page.
- • Expect every drug to slow the way the distraction did, because drugs mess up your body.
- • Collect reaction-time data measured under an actual drug, since a distraction delay is an analogy and not a drug measurement.
- • Predict that a depressant lengthens , since depressants boost or block excitation at the .
Response: State one choice, cite at least two evidence IDs, explain the rule that connects them, and add one limitation. Submit it as the claim-evidence-reasoning response.
Claim ceiling: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about drug effects on signaling. 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 drug effects on signaling supports before submitting the claim-evidence-reasoning response named on today's page.
Context: Drugs change by shifting availability or sensitivity at the , so your own distraction data becomes an analogy you can use to predict a depressant's or stimulant's effect.
- • T1: Graph your reaction times by condition.
- • T2: Describe how the distraction or a drug would shift the results.
- • T3: Complete the PLTW online analysis on drugs and synaptic signaling.
- • T4: Write a CER claiming how a depressant or stimulant would change , using your data pattern as evidence.
- • T5: Submit your labeled graph and signaling CER.
- • 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: A screening signal changes what to investigate next; it does not automatically prove the cause.
- • E3: You can graph and interpret reaction-time differences.
Measurements: Use only the measurements, units, graph, or counts supplied in today's task. No additional patient measurement is implied.
Figure finding: Teaching diagram for Drug effects on signaling. 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.
Rate or percent = part / comparison total x 100%. Percent change = (new - comparison) / comparison x 100%.
If 18 of 60 records meet a condition, the frequency is 18 / 60 x 100% = 30%.
Name the comparison total. A percent describes the supplied group and does not automatically predict an individual's outcome.
Use today's supplied counts to calculate one rate, risk, frequency, or percent change. Show the denominator and interpretation.
Students often think Students think all drugs 'mess you up' and therefore assume every drug slows .. The trap: It is a trap because depressants and stimulants act in opposite directions at the . Depressants enhance or block excitation and slow (longer ); stimulants boost excitatory release or block reuptake and speed transmission (shorter reaction time). Lumping them together predicts the wrong direction for half of them.
Bar graph: two bars, warm-hand condition 195 ms and cold-hand condition 248 ms, y-axis labeled "Reflex latency (ms)," x-axis labeled "Hand temperature."\n\nClaim: Cooling the skin and nerves of the hand would lengthen the withdrawal-reflex latency compared to a warm hand.\n\nEvidence: In our data, the average time from touch to finger pull-back rose from 195 ms with a warm hand to 248 ms with a cold hand, a slowdown of about 53 ms.\n\nReasoning: A reflex signal has to travel along sensory and motor neurons and cross synapses, and anything that slows that pathway lengthens the measured latency. Cooling does this physically, because lower temperature slows the ion movement and membrane processes that drive each action potential, so the impulse travels more slowly down the axon. That is why cooling by a few degrees added about 53 ms to the reflex, the same direction that any change slowing conduction would push. Warming the pathway would do the opposite, speeding conduction and shortening the latency back toward or below the warm baseline.
This model shows the level of evidence and organization needed to complete: A labeled bar graph comparing two average nerve-signal timing conditions with units, plus a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning paragraph explaining how a physical change to the signaling pathway shifts the pattern through a conduction mechanism.
- Write one defensible claim.
- Choose specific evidence that supports the claim.
- Explain the scientific rule that connects the evidence to the claim.
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 graph and CER as a single combined 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 Drug effects on signaling. 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.
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.
Practice: try a question, then check your answer▸
Claim ceiling for this check: Today's evidence supports a classroom claim about drug effects on signaling. It cannot prove causation, diagnose a real patient, or justify action outside this room.
Your distraction condition raised reaction time by 60 ms. Using that as your analogy, predict the direction a stimulant like caffeine would shift reaction time, and give the synaptic reason.
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.
Today is individual work you can do from home: complete the same target above, then submit your CER.
Go 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.
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: Neurons and Synapses- 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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