Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
7
Year:
2018
Type of Events Held:
- Exhibit
- Lecture/ Briefing
- School Program
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
- General Public
Approximate Number of People Reached:
350
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
1. Neuroscientists went to schools During this time period a group of neuroscientists from iMed.ULisboa visited two kindergartens, two elementary schools, and two high schools, in the Lisbon area. There, we performed simple oral presentations with audio/visual projections, focusing on the brain morphology, brain function, neurons and synapses. We also highlighted why learning about that matters, and how they can behave to protect their brains. The children were able to play with models of human brain and neurons and observe preserved mouse and rat brains. In addition, we provided several neuroscience-related coloring pages and for the older students we organized a “brain-quiz” that challenged them to explore brain-related issues. 2. Let’s play with the Brain! On March 24th 2018, we invited the general public to join us at the Natural History and Science Museum (MUHNAC), in Lisbon, where we promoted family-oriented leisure activities organized in different work stations and intended to be both fun and educational (Guided “brain anatomy tour”, using models of human brain and neurons as well as different preserved mammalian brains (mouse and rat); Making sense of it all, simple experiments regarding the somato-sensory system, brain perception of touch and flavors, visual tests to understand how idiosyncratic are the senses and how inaccurate can our visual system be, Stroop test, etc.; Color your brain, we provided a “painting studio” with coloring pages and worksheets featuring different aspects of brain biology and fun facts. Our main goal was to educate the public visiting the museum about how our brains work, why learning about that matters, and how they can behave to protect it.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Emails
- Mailings
- Posters/Flyers
- Website
- Social Media
Which of These Publicity Methods Was The Most Successful?
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:
- none
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- Mindboggling Coloring Sheets
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- Activities/Experiments
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Logos
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
The feedback from the public (general population, but also school teachers and children) was very positive and rewarding. We think that by participating in the BAW we had the opportunity to show the institute and our work to the public in general, and by doing so we contributed to engage the public in science and in particular in neuroscience research.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
This was the first year that we collaborate with a science museum. This was a great advantage because we benefit from the museum visitors, that are already predisposed to hear about science.
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