Lesson 2 ·Class 7 · Nervous System · Label Lab
The Neuron and the Synapse
How one neuron passes its message to the next.
Tap any part of the diagram to learn its name and its job. Try: Follow one packet of chemical from its vesicle to a receptor.
Free play — explore the diagram, or switch to "Label it yourself" and place every label. Switch to when you're ready to test yourself.
The impulse reaches the axon terminal, crosses the synaptic cleft as a chemical, and is caught by receptors on the next neuron.
What this lesson covers
What you do
- Follow one packet of chemical from its vesicle to a receptor.
- The two neurons never touch — the message crosses the gap as a chemical.
The parts you label
- Axon terminal — The swollen end of the axon, where the impulse arrives.
- Synaptic vesicle — A tiny sac holding the chemical messenger.
- Neurotransmitter — The chemical that carries the message across the gap.
- Synaptic cleft — The tiny gap between the two neurons — they never touch.
- Receptor — Catches the chemical on the next neuron.
- Dendrite — The next neuron's branch, which picks the message up.
Challenges to clear
- Tap the gap the message has to cross.
- Tap the sac that stores the chemical messenger.
- Tap what catches the chemical on the next neuron.
- Label the whole synapse.
Hint
The impulse reaches the axon terminal, crosses the synaptic cleft as a chemical, and is caught by receptors on the next neuron.