Reflex Arc

Reflex Arc follows a nerve signal from receptor to muscle. Students click the reflex hammer to tap the knee or touch the hot plate, then watch the impulse run along a sensory neuron, cross a synapse in the spinal cord and return along a motor neuron to the muscle. Readouts give the time for each step, the total reflex time and when the brain finds out. Sliders set slow motion, nerve myelin health and tap strength, so students can see how damage slows the response. It shows why reflexes are faster than thinking.

• Click the reflex hammer and watch the signal move through each stage in slow motion.
• Touch the hot plate and compare its Reflex reaction time with the knee tap.
• Lower the Nerve myelin health slider and see how the sensory and motor times change.
• Adjust Tap strength and Slow motion and read when the Brain finds out.
• Compare the total reflex time with the roughly 200 ms of a thought-out reaction.

1. 1Name the parts of a reflex arc from receptor to effector.
2. 2Explain why a reflex is faster than a voluntary response.
3. 3Relate nerve conduction speed to myelin health.
4. 4Compare the knee-jerk and withdrawal reflex times.

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