Unit Plan 22 (Grade 4 Science): Brain Processing & Response

Focus: Describe how sensory information is processed in the brain and triggers behaviors or responses.

Grade Level: 4

Subject Area: Science (Life Science • Structure & Function • Nervous System)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students extend their understanding of sense receptors by focusing on how the brain receives, processes, and responds to information. Through simple models, short texts, and scenario cards, students trace a path from stimulus (light, sound, touch) to brain processing to behavior or response (moving, speaking, pulling away, focusing attention). They compare fast, automatic responses (reflex-like) and more thoughtful responses (decisions), and create diagrams and explanations that show the flow of information in living things.

Essential Questions

• How do sense organs and the brain work together to help animals respond to their environment?
• What happens between “something happens outside” and “the animal does something in response”?
• How can we use models (diagrams, role-plays, flow arrows) to show information moving from senses to brain to behavior?
• Why is it important for animals (including humans) to process information before responding?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Describe, in their own words, how sensory information (light, sound, touch, smell, taste) is sent to the brain.
2. Use a model (diagram, flow chart, or role-play) to show that the brain processes information and then sends signals that cause responses or behaviors.
3. Explain the difference between a fast, automatic response and a more thoughtful response that involves decision-making.
4. Analyze simple scenario cards to identify the stimulus, sense organ, brain processing, and response.
5. Create a “Brain Processing Storyboard” that clearly connects senses, brain, and behavior using words, arrows, and labeled drawings.

Standards Alignment — 4th Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 4-LS1-2 — Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond in different ways.
  • Example: Draw or act out how a rabbit sees a predator, the brain processes danger, and the body responds by running away or freezing.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can tell the story of what happens from a stimulus (like a sound or light) to my brain to my response.
• I can label a model that shows sense organ → brain → response using arrows and simple notes.
• I can explain the difference between a quick, automatic response and a slower, thoughtful response.
• I can use key words like stimulus, sense receptor, brain, signal, and response in my explanations.
• I can make a Brain Processing Storyboard that someone else can read and understand without me talking.