High-school Teach physiology with muscle signals
Help students explain how muscles work using signals they record themselves.
A diagram can show where a muscle is. A live recording lets students investigate what it does. With Human SpikerBox, your class can connect nervous-system signaling to muscle activity—and explain the connection using their own evidence.
First lesson Does load change muscle activity?
Students hold two light loads at the same elbow angle, record biceps EMG and measure RMS over equal time windows. Six trials make the question testable: does the signal change when the load changes?
The lesson includes a printable student worksheet, teacher key, data table and graphing prompts. Students leave with a claim about muscle activity supported by numbers, rather than just a picture of a signal.
What students learn
A controlled comparison
Ask why an arm can stay still while its muscles are active. Change one condition and compare the recording.
A visible learning outcome
Connect motor neurons, muscle fibers and joint position. Students use a table and graph to explain what they observed.
A way for everyone to contribute
Work as recorder, timekeeper or analyst. Wearing electrodes is optional; everyone can analyze the group’s data.
Fit the investigation to your course
Plan about 60 minutes for the complete investigation. For a 45-minute period, preconnect a shared station and focus on analysis, or split recording and analysis across two meetings. The teacher guide includes a minute-by-minute plan; timings are estimates for local rehearsal.
Use it alongside skeletal muscle, the nervous system or a health-science unit on movement. Introduce motor neurons, muscle fibers and graph axes first. The worksheet supplies the protocol, recording table and questions, so you can spend class time on the investigation.
What your first station needs
Start with one Human SpikerBox, three fresh electrodes per volunteer, a USB data cable and a computer running Spike Recorder. The featured lesson adds two plastic bottles and 250 mL of water. No Reaction Timer or Reflex Hammer is required.
The worksheet follows the current browser app on Chrome/Edge or Chrome on Chromebook. Managed devices must allow serial access. For iPad, iPhone or Android, check the native app and data cable for that specific device before you plan the class.
One recording kit. Muscle, heart & brain
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Human SpikerBox
The human physiology recording kit
Use the same kit for EMG, ECG, EEG and eye-movement recordings, with the appropriate setup. The lesson here uses one channel and one electrode cable. Includes battery, USB-C cable and 12 patches; bring your computer. No timer or reflex accessory is needed.
$299.99
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Large Muscle Electrodes
Plan fresh patches for each placement
Keep your class ready for the next volunteer. Three fresh patches per biceps placement; six trials use the same attached set. Removed patches are not reused. Plan for every section and a few replacements.
$24.99
Explore more human physiology
After the first EMG lab, use another human recording to explore a new physiological question. Each activity has its own setup and teaching scope.
How do muscles share the work?
Record biceps and triceps together. Compare agonist/antagonist roles and coactivation. Uses both channels and five patches with a shared reference.
Explore paired-muscle EMGWhat makes a heartbeat visible?
Record a surface ECG from the wrists, identify repeating features and estimate heart rate. Connect the trace to cardiac electrical events.
Explore the ECG activityCan you see a brain rhythm?
Explore EEG and alpha activity with the included headband and gel. Add this after students can discuss contacts, noise and muscle artifacts.
Explore the EEG activity
Connect the lab to the unit you already teach
Students model the connection between the nervous and muscular systems, investigate a controlled change and support an explanation with data. The pathway drawing can contribute to NGSS HS-LS1-2’s work on interacting body systems; this single lab does not cover the entire performance expectation.
In a health-science class, use the same evidence to discuss movement and measurement. This is a physiology investigation, not clinical diagnosis or certification. For dual enrollment, review the college extension and assessment with the credit-granting instructor.
Make room for a real experiment.
Start with the lesson. Rehearse one station. Then choose the station count and supplies that fit your students and schedule.
Equip your class one station at a time
Plan your station count
Tell us your class size, number of sections, devices and first lab. We can discuss an equipment list for one shared station or a class set.
School purchase orders
BYB accepts purchase orders. Include your equipment list, shipping destination and required date when asking about current terms and delivery.
Paperwork, ready to use
Download the signed W-9 for your purchasing office. The sole-source letter (PDF) is available too.
Keep exploring
Teach the featured lab
Download the worksheet and teacher key, or follow the full lesson online.
Open the EMG investigationCollege & dual enrollment
Match the schedule, assessment and purchasing plan to your teaching setting.
Explore college A&PClassroom funding
Find educator funding programs and build an equipment request around a specific lesson.
Find classroom funding
One station can support a demonstration and shared-data lesson. For 30 students working in groups of three, use ten stations. One volunteer per group uses 30 patches in total; if all 30 students choose to record, plan 90 patches and additional time. Each kit includes 12 patches. Repeated trials use the same attached set, but every new placement needs three fresh patches. Count every section and allow for replacements.
The featured lesson uses current Spike Recorder on a laptop or Chromebook with USB recording. Use Chrome or Edge on a supported computer, or Chrome on Chromebook. Managed devices may need permission for serial access. BYB also offers native apps; mobile OS, ports and cables require separate checking. Test connect, record, save, reopen and Measure on one actual classroom device before preparing the class set.
Human SpikerBox records electrical signals in EMG, ECG, EEG and eye-movement configurations. It has two recording channels. This lesson measures surface EMG amplitude with RMS; it does not directly measure muscle force, individual motor-unit firing or health. Keep any force, pressure or other acquisition equipment your course needs.
The online lesson and PDFs contain the materials list, placement schematic, current app steps, six-trial procedure, blank data table, analysis prompts, synthetic practice data and teacher key. This is a new lesson: the exact bottle protocol, timing and learning effects have not yet been classroom validated. A useful lesson does not require students to obtain a particular direction of change.
Students can record, time, graph and explain shared volunteer data without wearing electrodes. If no usable recording is available, the supplied synthetic dataset supports the same calculation and interpretation questions. Label it as an analysis-only activity; it does not assess acquisition skills. Never require personal recording for credit.
The supplied steps are written for Human SpikerBox and current Spike Recorder. Older Muscle SpikerBox models and other acquisition systems may support a similar investigation, but connectors, channels, file formats and measurement tools differ. Send the model, computer/OS and intended activity through Contact so we can discuss the setup before you buy.