Unit 1.2 Muscles and Motion: Muscle contraction, muscle orientation, Maniken muscle build, movement and biomechanics.
Your PLTW coursework: Human Body Systems ▸ Unit 1: Road to Rehabilitation ▸ Lesson 1.2 Muscles and Motion ▸ "Activities 1.2.1-1.2.5 (muscle contraction, joints; names TBA in myPLTW)"
What to do if absent- 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.
Week overview - Muscles and Motion: contraction, the Maniken build, and biomechanics
Model how muscles contract using the sliding of and , build muscles on the Maniken, and explain motion using origin, , and levers.
- 1Review a diagram and label and , then describe what happens when they slide past each other.
- 2Roll and place a muscle on your Maniken, identifying its origin and its as you attach it.
- 3Trace the muscle you built and predict which movement it produces when it contracts.
- 4Label the that connects your muscle to bone and explain its job.
- 5Identify one as a lever and show where the force and the load act.
- 6Write a short caption explaining how your built muscle creates motion from origin to .
- • You will be able to explain muscle using and .
- • You will be able to build a muscle on the Maniken and identify its origin and .
- • You will be able to describe a as a lever that produces movement.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
One-paragraph CER taking a position on whether performance-enhancing drugs should be permitted in competitive sport.
Labeled diagram (Z-lines, A-band, I-band, , ) plus a two-sentence sliding-filament explanation.
Two labeled photos of your Maniken muscle build ( and views) with each muscle identified and its action stated.
Agonist-antagonist-synergist analysis for one chosen movement, plus a revised Maniken label card showing each muscle's role.
Complete muscle evidence packet: diagram, Maniken build photos, agonist-antagonist analysis, and two-sentence reflection.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: every time you move, billions of tiny filaments are sliding past each other inside your muscles.
- Today's goal: build a muscle with your own hands on the Maniken and explain exactly how it moves bone.
- Monday bioethics tie-in: is it fair for athletes to use legal supplements to build muscle faster than rivals?
- Reminder: your graded muscle model evidence is submitted on the class site.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance the PLTW HBS online benchmark through Unit 1.2 Muscles and Motion.
- • Muscle happens when and filaments slide within the .
- • A muscle attaches at an origin and an and pulls on bone through a .
- • Build a muscle on the Maniken and identify its origin and .
- • Describe how a muscle and act as a lever to create motion.
📋 PLTW evidence due this week: your Maniken muscle build documented with origin, , and the motion it produces.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment: this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Fri, Feb 19 | Bioethics: performance enhancement | One-paragraph CER taking a position on whether performance-enhancing drugs should be permitted in competitive sport. |
| Tuesday | Tue, Feb 23 | Sarcomere and contraction | Labeled sarcomere diagram (Z-lines, A-band, I-band, actin, myosin) plus a two-sentence sliding-filament contraction explanation. |
| Wednesday | Wed, Feb 24 | Maniken muscle build | Two labeled photos of your Maniken muscle build (anterior and posterior views) with each muscle identified and its action stated. |
| Thursday | - | Muscle action analysis | Agonist-antagonist-synergist analysis for one chosen movement, plus a revised Maniken label card showing each muscle's role. |
| Friday | - | Submit muscle evidence | Complete muscle evidence packet: sarcomere diagram, Maniken build photos, agonist-antagonist analysis, and two-sentence reflection. |
- M: Philosophy for Kids / John Carroll bioethical debate
- T: teacher background notes + PLTW launch task
- W: lab / data or model work
- Th: analysis / CER or design revision
- F: submit tracker + weekly evidence
Due by week's end: Muscle model evidence.
5 panels from the illustrated semester.
Fiction. There is no such student. The lessons, labs and dates are the real planned course; the student, the classmates and the conversations are invented.
Lab day: what to bring & watch
This explainer accompanies the PLTW lab protocol: watch it before lab.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework: and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Clever, then myPLTWHow to get there: open Clever and sign in with your Microsoft (district) account. Both myPLTW and Schoology are in Clever. Do the activity in myPLTW. Turn the work in on this site or hand it to Mr. Mendoza, because that is the step that counts as submitted. Schoology only shows your report-card grade later.
You can't do those from home: do this instead: Teacher-posted data/model packet, same objective. Supplemental: Khan: muscle .
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan: complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
Khan Academy: Muscular SystemVocabulary
Virtual resources
Resources & readings
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).