Make a Model Neurone Cell

Neurones are nerve cells and are found in your brain and nervous system. There are about 80 billion neurones in the brain. Neurones connect to other neurones and pass electrical signals to and from your brain all around your body. 

To make your model neurone the first thing that we are going to go is get a pipe cleaner and roll it round to make a circle. This is going to be the main body of the neurone cell. 

We are now going to get another pipe cleaner and attach it to the main body of the neurone to make a long tail. This is called the axon of the neurone. 

We are now going to cut some pipe cleaners in half and attach them to the main cell body to make some branches, these are called dendrites. 

We are now going to twist some pipe cleaners to the end of the axon tail to make some branches. 

So, the way the neurone works is that an electrical signal passes from one neurone to another. The signal will pass from one on the dendrite branches down through the main cell body, down through the axon tail and then onto another neurone.  

You may like to make a few model neurones so that you can make a chain to see the connections.  

The video tutorial for this activity is available on the Surrey Libraries Facebook Page