Einstein College of Medicine

“The Amazing Brain” – March 21st – This event included 6-to-7-year-olds at the Frank R. Conwell School, PS#3, (Room 212), Jersey City, N.J. Through presentations and a series of interactive activities, I taught the children interesting facts about the brain and how exciting it is.. Activities included: 1) What is inside your head and how does it work and what is a Neuron and what does it do? ; 2) Show and tell of the brain and neuron models and electro-chemical messages.Wearing brain hats showing different areas of the brain and lateraility, Children “behaving like neurons” when messages were sent electro-chemically from one neuron to another; 3) Demonstration of how to protect your head: utlizing, “Eggy” the Egghead experiment ( to show what happens if you don’t protect your head) 4) Presentation on sleep and sleep hygiene; facts about how many hours different animals sleep, interactive discussion about dreams and nightmares, sleep journals,. 5) Children drawing pictures about the brain and writing about what they learned. Objectives: To teach children what goes on inside their heads/brains, to expose them to basic neuroscience terms by teaching them about Neurons and basic neuroanatomy and what each area of the brain does. Engaging them in interactive activities that make them think about how important our brains are, the huge range of things they are responsible for and how we can work together to protect our brains/bodies. To inspire them to think of themselves as scientists and brain enthusiasts. All of the objectives were accomplished and more. The children were stimulated and engaged and asked terrific & challenging questions!

Suggestions for planning a larger scale event with mixed age groups; ie: K-2nd grade. Materials that can be obtained for free and at low-cost for ALL the children ( 300).