Building Realistic Neurons with Pipe Cleaners

Create authentic models of neurons using low-cost craft materials

resource type /

Lesson(s)

topic /

neuroscience

published / March 9, 2026

audience /

High School

Middle School

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lesson

About this resource

Topic: Neuroscience‍

Open dataset: Cell Type Database

Exploring neuron anatomy

Cells have all sorts of different shapes, functions, and sizes. Researchers at the Allen Institute work on uncovering, categorizing, and sharing information about the specialized cells in our brains called neurons. A popular activity to teach students about neurons is to build the traditional model of a neuron’s anatomy using pipe cleaners. This lesson expands on that activity by showing students how to model realistic versions of the excitatory and inhibitory neurons (the two top-level categories of neurons) that our team studies and connect them to form neural networks.

Modeling neurons based on authentic neuroscience research

The images and data that inspired this unit come from the Cell Types Database within the Allen Brain Map, a group of open datasets encompassing gene expression in the brain, visual behavior, properties of neurons, neural development, and more.

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