Accompanies Module 8, Chapter 9: Muscles and Muscle Tissue

I’m giving you an “easy” assignment this time since you will likely be studying for the upcoming exam.

What I’d like you to turn in will definitely help you understand the process of muscle contraction. One thing that I really encourage students to do is make drawings of complicated processes. With muscle contraction, making illustrations can help increase your understanding. In the process, you will create a great study tool for yourself.

Here’s the assignment:

1) To gain an understanding of the sliding filament mechanism, draw three adjacent sarcomeres (side-by-side as if part of the same myofibril):

a) in a relaxed state
b) in a partially contracted state
c) in a fully contracted state

(so you will make three different drawings that contain 3 sarcomeres each)

On each drawing, label actin, myosin, and M line.

2) Make an illustration of the neuromuscular junction between an axon terminal and a muscle cell; label all the parts we discussed including axon terminal, synaptic vesicles, acetylcholine, acetylcholine receptors, and synaptic cleft. Extend the drawing of the muscle cell out far enough that you can actually illustrate the movement of the action potential once it is triggered. Use arrows to show it moving along the plasma membrane and down into the t-tubules (so you’ll need to draw those within the cell as well).