Showing posts with label neuroscience for kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neuroscience for kids. Show all posts

Friday, November 1, 2013

2014 Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Writing Contest

I received this contest information in my email this morning and wanted to share.  There is something for everyone.  Check it out!


2014 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS POETRY WRITING CONTESTThe 2014 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS POETRY WRITING CONTEST is now open to students in kindergarten through high school, college students, teachers and parents. Use your imagination to create a poem, limerick or haiku about the brain and you might win a prize. The complete set of rules and the official entry form for the contest are available at:http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest14.html 
Here is a summary of the contest rules: 
All poems, limericks and haiku must have at least THREE lines and CANNOT be longer than TEN lines. Material that is shorter than three lines or longer than ten lines will not be read. All material must have a neuroscience theme such as brain anatomy (a part of the brain), brain function (memory, language, emotions, movement, the senses, etc.), drug abuse or brain health (helmets, brain disorders, etc.). Be creative! Use your brain! Visit the Neuroscience for Kids pages for ideas and information! 
- If you are a STUDENT IN KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 2: write a poem in any style; it doesn't have to rhyme. 
- If you are a STUDENT IN GRADE 3 TO GRADE 5: write a poem that rhymes. The rhymes can occur in any pattern. For example, lines one and two can rhyme, lines three and four can rhyme, and lines five and six can rhyme. Or use your imagination and create your own rhyming pattern. 
- If you are a STUDENT IN GRADE 6 TO GRADE 8: write a brainy haiku (3 lines only). A haiku MUST use the following pattern: 5 syllables in the first line; 7 syllables in the second line; 5 syllables in the third line. Here is an example:Three pounds of jelly wobbling around in my skull and it can do math 
- If you are a STUDENT IN GRADE 9 TO GRADE 12: write a brainy limerick. A limerick has 5 lines: lines one, two and five rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables; lines three and four rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables. Here is an example of a limerick:The brain is important, that's true, For all things a person will do, To skiing to biting, It makes up the person who's you. 
- If you are a COLLEGE STUDENT, TEACHER, PARENT OR ANYONE ELSE: write a rhyming poem that explains why it is important to learn about the brain.Books or other prizes will be awarded to multiple winners in each category. 
Other rules:A. You must use an entry form for your writing and send it in using "regular mail." Entries that are sent by e-mail will NOT be accepted.B. Only ONE entry per person. If you cannot download the entry form, let me know (e-mail: chudler@u.washington.edu) and I will send a form to you attached to an e-mail.C. Students may enter by themselves or teachers may make copies of the entry form for their students and return completed entries in a single package. The contest is open to people from all countries. 
Entries must be received by February 1, 2014.
Additional information can be found here: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest14.html

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Brain Internet Search and Discover

Below is an assignment I do when I can get a computer lab for my regular psychology class.  Our school of 3000 has only two labs.  I love each of these sites--I use this assignment as a springboard into the brain and neuroscience after my students have become familiar with the brain (after about a week or two).  It is NOT a webquest, but rather a search and discover (my term, nothing official).  I checked all the links this morning and they all work. Many of my students are also poor and do not have computers and/or internet access at home to complete the assignment.

We have an alternating block schedule.  Given that, I added the last two sites on optical illusions for the students who work more quickly and give them something that could be endlessly entertaining.  My biggest goal is exposure to the possibilities of the brain and topics that interest them--that's why I began with sleep ;)

posted by Chuck Schallhorn


Mr. Schallhorn's Psychology/Brain             Name                                                                                                     Per         
Internet Search and Discover (rev. 10/13)

Follow ALL Directions:
·         Today's exercise is designed to take your through some excellent sites about the brain and help you review and understand the ideas for the unit.
·         Complete each section before moving on to the next one.
·         Go to my web site to access all these specific sites without having to type in each link.

Site 1: The Teenage Brain: Why We Sleep
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/teenbrain/from/sleep.html

This link examines why teens sleep so differently than other people.  Read the first several sections and explain what the research says about teens and sleep.

 

 

 

 

 



Site 2: The Brain in 3-D Form-- http://www.g2conline.org/ --once here, look to the right and view the 3-D brain section

This link shows the brain in 3-Dimensional form. 

Play with the simulation to get a feel for the brain and how parts relate to one another.  Do this and read the descriptions at the right of the page.  Spend about five minutes doing this.  Name three things you learned about the brain by using this tool.

1.

2. 

3.


This link explains in detail and great color just how science can scan the brain. What does each do and HOW does it achieve its measurement of the brain.
EEG







CAT

PET






MEG
fMRI/MRI








Site 4: Brains in the News--http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/inthenews.html

Neuroscience for Kids--in the News
Choose one of the articles and give a four-six sentence summary of its contents.














Site 5: Brain Games

Neuroscience for Kids--Neuroscience Games
Choose a game that is for kids in high school. Play it and report back as to what you learned from it.













Site 6: Topic of Your Choice

Scan the article titles on this page. Make a list of topics  (at least 8x) the magazine is currently offering.












Site 7: Medical News Today ArticleSearch this site for articles dealing with the brain (easy search box at the top).  Choose and article.  Choose one and create a mini-report (summarize in 4-6 sentences on the article topics about which you read).  http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/








Site 8: Sheep Brain Dissection
This link takes you through the dissection of a sheep brain and the connection to that of a human brain.  Please take key notes (at least 8) that are important to understand the brain.















Site 9: Society for Neuroscience: http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainfacts
Take a look at the page.  Choose one of the topics under “main page.”  Read that section and summarize it here.












Optical Illusions Sites
Go to the following links and experience the world of optical illusions. What do you see—what illusions grab your attention and why

1.




2.




3.




What is happening to you when you view these illusions?  What is your reaction to it?





Sunday, September 15, 2013

Neuroscience Haiku--Poetry in Psychology








Brain plaques and tangles
Memory loss, dementia
You are someone else.


This is but one of many haikus that Eric Chudler (from Neuroscience for Kids fame) wrote for his new book, The Little Book of Neuroscience Haiku.  This book combines my love of the brain and love of words and poetry in such an enjoyable and informational manner.  You can use these Haikus as topic or class starters, as clarification, or as a lesson in itself about a term.  Each poem is accompanied by an explanation and cover a wide variety of neuroscience topics.  Chudler also uses humor, puns, and straight learning in his poems.  While I like them all, here are a few of my faves.









Fresh neurons arise
Call it neurogenesis
New tricks for old brains.



EEG awake
Muscles paralyzed, eyes move
Paradoxical.


Tyrannosaurus
A very large stressed reptile
You're a nervous rex.


Strange homunculus
Little man inside the brain
My, what large fingers.


Large, small nerve fibers
Melzack, Wall control theory
Closed gate, reduced pain.


Do get this book--it's a great addition to your arsenal of classroom teaching tools.



For some context, here is Wikipedia's entry on haikus in English:
Haiku in English is a short poem which uses imagistic language to convey the essence of an experience of nature or the season intuitively linked to the human condition.[1] It is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language.
Some of the more common practices in English include:
  • use of a caesura or kire represented by punctuation, space, a line-break, or a grammatical break[1] to compare two images implicitly.

Posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Neuro4Kids Line of Products


Dr. Eric Chudler Ph.D. of the University of Washington and mainstay behind Neuroscience for Kids, (http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html), one of the best websites in the country, contacted us last week about a new site he is developing.

The site at http://www.neuro4kids.com features many products based off Neuroscience 4 Kids. The current product line, which appears to be growing, includes t-shirts, posters, games, mugs and much more.

Thanks so much to Dr. Chudler for letting us know about this exciting new website.

Friday, March 6, 2009

More on National Sleep Awareness Week

My class began the unit on states of consciousness and I rediscovered some key links that I share and use with them.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Neuroscience for Kids

With Brain Awareness Week coming up, I'd like to give a public appreciation comment to Eric Chudler of University of Washington in Seattle. His creation of and continued maintenance of "Neuroscience for Kids" has been a bastion of wonderfulness for high school (and I'm sure other) psychology teachers. To access his site, check out: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html

At the bottom of the linked page, you can sign up for the monthly newsletter.
The NFK team is at: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/whowe.html