Nervous System Lesson

Building the Nervous System

1) Roll out a small yellow or buff clay string to represent a nerve, and then form a small "V" of clay with one leg of the "V" longer than the other.

2) Place the "V" at the neural foramina: short leg to "C7" long leg to "T1".

3) Slip one end of another string under the clavicle up to the angle of the "V" and connect it there.

4) The free end of the nerve is dropped down the arm to the dorsal side of the medial epicondyle or funny bone.

Learn Great Anatomy Lessons

5) Press it gently into the Maniken®. The string from the dorsal elbow spirals to the ventral forearm along the ulna. From there it passes down to the middle finger as the "ulnar n." These clay nerves are hugely out of scale on the model and simply diagrammatic.

6) Turn the arm back and forth to appreciate the dorsoventral spiral of its path.

7) Add digital branches of the ulnar nerve to the ring and little fingers.

8) Lay the Maniken® hand in the palm of your (same) hand...
...adding clay strings down the ulnar palm and onto medial edges of fingers to embody which fingers the ulnar nerve most typically affect.

Activities Booklet: Sample Lessons

Writing on Bones Lesson

Building Muscles Lesson

Building the Nervous System Lesson

Building the Cardiovascular System Lesson

Learning Activities Booklet in a PDF