Indiana Science HS-AP4-2
The Standard
Develop a model to illustrate the components of a muscle fiber and how they interact in contraction and relaxation.
Indiana Academic Standards for Science (2023) · Movement and Support, the Muscular System
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students draw or build a muscle fiber with myofibrils made of repeating sarcomeres. They show how calcium and ATP help actin slide past myosin during contraction, then show what changes during relaxation.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student labels the muscle fiber, myofibrils, sarcomeres, actin, myosin, and calcium storage. Their arrows show actin sliding inward during contraction and calcium returning to storage during relaxation.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may draw actin and myosin shrinking instead of sliding past each other. They may think relaxation uses no ATP or that calcium stays in the sarcomere after contraction.
How to Assess It
- Give students a blank muscle fiber diagram with one sarcomere and the calcium storage area marked. Ask them to label actin and myosin, draw contraction arrows, and explain where calcium goes during relaxation.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build a paper sarcomere with sliding actin strips, central myosin strips, a calcium storage pocket, and ATP tokens; model contraction and relaxation.
Ask, 'What happens to actin and myosin when calcium is released, and what changes when calcium returns to storage?'
Have pairs order cards labeled calcium release, myosin binding, ATP use, actin sliding, and calcium reuptake, then check against a model.
Have students flex and extend an elbow, then mark when the biceps contracts and relaxes on a sarcomere sketch.
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Related Standards
- HS-AP4-4
Describe how a neuromuscular junction functions. Design an experiment to determine how motor recruitment influences the force and velocity of contraction.
- HS-AP3-1
Develop a model to illustrate the microscopic structure, development of, maintenance of, and function of compact and spongy bone.
- HS-AP5-1
Develop a model that illustrates the structural components and functional subdivisions of the nervous system.
- HS-AP4-5
Use a diagram, model, or dissection to identify major muscle groups.
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