Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
2
Year:
2016
Type of Events Held:
- Exhibit
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
- General Public
- High School students(9-12)
- Middle school students(6-8)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
800
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
We have participated in 2 events so far in 2016: our own exhibit, April 15-16, at Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, OK and ScienceFest, April 28, at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City, OK. At each event, our team of volunteers led the following 6 activities: 1) see/touch a human brain 2) see/hear electricity from your own muscles (surface electromyograms from the biceps) 3) see how your brain changes in a minute (throwing after wearing prism goggles) 4) fool your brain with proprioceptive illusions (muscle massager on triceps tendon with eyes closed) 5) see how fruit flies stop moving when their synapses temporarily stop functioning (temperature-sensitive mutation) and 6) experience how smell is integrated with taste in the brain (judging jellybean flavor with eyes and nose closed). In addition, we ask visitors to fill out a survey form, which so far shows that about 40% did not know fundamental concepts, such as that their muscles and nervous systems use electricity, before visiting our exhibit.
Event Planning & Publicity
Other Publicity Methods:
Publicity was handled by Science Museum Oklahoma for the first event and by the ScienceFest organizers for the second event. I believe that each used a website, emails, and social media.
Resources
Of the Dana Foundation publications/resources distributed at your event(s), if any, please indicate the three most popular. Please choose up to three. If "other," please indicate below:
- It’s Mindboggling!
- BAW Pencils and Erasers
- The Mindboggling Workbook
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
The community has benefited from learning fundamental concepts about the brain, such as that it uses electrical signaling and that it can change very quickly, which many visitors did not know.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
It is important that each activity be hands on, be engaging, and teach a fundamental concept in neurobiology that can be summarized in a sentence.
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