7TH GRADE LIFE SCIENCE
Nervous & Endocrine Systems Lab
⏱ Estimated Time: 35 minutes
Click any card to flip it. Each card stays open for 8 seconds — you can open it again any time!
Match each term to its correct definition. (1 point each — 8 points total)
Matched: 0 / 8
Your body's super-fast electrical messaging network
Your nervous system is your body's lightning-fast control center. It is made up of your brain, your spinal cord, and a network of nerves that reach every part of your body. The brain and spinal cord together are called the central nervous system.
The basic building block of the nervous system is the neuron, a special cell that sends electrical signals. Neurons connect to one another at tiny gaps called synapses, where chemical messages cross from one neuron to the next. Signals can travel at speeds over 250 miles per hour!
Some actions happen so fast that your brain does not even have time to think about them. These are called reflexes. When you touch something hot, your hand pulls back before you feel pain. The signal goes to your spinal cord and back to your muscles without waiting for the brain.
Patient: Maya, age 13. Sport: Soccer.
During a game, Maya collided with another player and hit her head. Within an hour she felt dizzy, had a bad headache, and could not remember the play. Her coach took her to the school nurse, who suspected a concussion — an injury to the brain caused by a hit or sudden shake.
The doctor told Maya her brain cells had been bumped and bruised. She had to rest from sports for two weeks, avoid screens, and let her nervous system heal. Maya followed the plan, and after two weeks her headaches were gone and her memory was back to normal.
1What part of the nervous system carried Maya's reflex signal back to her muscles before her brain could think?
2The basic cell of the nervous system that sends electrical signals is called a —
Your body's slower chemical messaging system
While the nervous system uses fast electrical signals, the endocrine system uses slower chemical signals called hormones. Hormones are made by special organs called glands. Once released, hormones travel through your blood to reach cells all over your body.
Important glands include the pituitary (in the brain — controls many other glands), the thyroid (in the neck — controls energy use), the adrenals (above the kidneys — make adrenaline), and the pancreas (near the stomach — makes insulin).
One important hormone is insulin. After you eat, your blood sugar rises. The pancreas releases insulin so your cells can take in that sugar and use it for energy. This keeps your body in homeostasis, a balanced internal state.
Patient: Marcus, age 12. Symptoms: Thirsty all the time, tired, losing weight.
Marcus's mom noticed he was drinking water nonstop and falling asleep at his desk. The doctor ran a blood test and found his blood sugar was very high. Marcus was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. His pancreas was no longer making enough insulin, so the sugar in his blood could not get into his cells.
Now Marcus checks his blood sugar before meals and gives himself insulin shots. With his treatment plan, his energy is back, he plays baseball, and his blood sugar stays balanced — his endocrine system is back in homeostasis with help from medicine.
When you are scared (think: a dog jumps out at you!), your nervous system spots danger in a flash and signals your adrenal glands to release adrenaline. Your heart races, your breathing speeds up, and your muscles get ready to run or fight. This is called the fight-or-flight response, and it shows how both systems team up to keep you safe.
1Which gland released the hormone Marcus was missing?
2Hormones travel from glands to body cells through the —
Show what you've learned by completing, unscrambling, and expanding sentences
The basic cell of the nervous system that sends electrical signals is the .
The pancreas releases the hormone to control blood sugar levels in the body.
An automatic body response that does not need conscious thought is called a .
Build the sentence about hormones. Tap a word in the bank to drop it into the next empty spot. Tap a placed word to send it back. Words turn green when in the right place.
📏 9 words · ends with a period
Build the sentence about the central nervous system. Same rules — tap to place, tap a placed word to return it.
📏 10 words · ends with a period
Build the sentence about glands. Same rules apply.
📏 8 words · ends with a period
Activity Score: 0 / 8
Measure how fast your nervous system can send a signal!
| Trial | Reaction Time (milliseconds) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trial 1 | — | — |
| Trial 2 | — | — |
| Trial 3 | — | — |
| Trial 4 | — | — |
| Trial 5 | — | — |
| Average | — | ms |
Visualize and analyze your reaction time data
Complete the Reaction Time Lab first to see your data here.
Range = Slowest − Fastest. A typical visual reaction time is about 200–300 ms.
1When the box turned green and you clicked, in what order did the signal travel through your body?
2Look at your data. Why might your reaction times be different from one trial to the next, even though the test is the same?
3If a student felt nervous or excited during the test, which hormone could have been released that might make their reaction times faster?
A typical human reaction time is around 200 to 300 milliseconds for a visual signal. The signal traveled through your eyes → brain → spinal cord → arm muscles → finger — and your nervous system did all of that in less than a third of a second!
If you felt nervous or excited during the test, your adrenal glands may have released adrenaline, which can actually make your reaction time faster. That is your nervous and endocrine systems working together to keep you ready and alert!
8 Regents-style questions covering both systems. Need 60% to pass! (1 point each)
Great work! Here is how you did on the lab.
Click below to save or print a PDF of your full lab — including your data table, chart, and all answers — to turn in.