Lesson: The Nerve Impulse Biology

In this lesson, we will learn how to explain how a resting potential is maintained and describe the electrical and chemical changes that occur during an action potential.

Lesson Plan

Students will be able to

explain what is meant by resting potential and how it is maintained by ion channels and the sodium–potassium pump,
define an action potential as the change in electrical potential as an impulse passes along the membrane of a neuron,
describe how the movement of sodium ions through voltage-gated channels depolarize the membrane,
describe how the movement of potassium ions through voltage-gated channels repolarize the membrane,
recall that the process of a nerve impulse include depolarization, repolarization, hyperpolarization, and a refractory period,
state the properties of nerve impulses, including the speed of propagation and the all-or-nothing principle.

Lesson Video

Lesson Explainer

Lesson Worksheet

Q1:

All the following ions are involved in the propagation of nerve impulses in the axon of one neuron except ions.

Q2:

In neurons at resting potential, the concentration gradient of positively charged sodium ions and potassium ions would dictate that sodium ions move into the cell and potassium ions move outside the cell. How do neurons maintain the ion distribution across their membrane despite that?

Q3:

The speed of nerve impulse is equal in all of the following parts of the nerve cell except in .