Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
1
Year:
2018
Type of Events Held:
- School Program
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
13 (directly), others indirectly
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
My session was entitled “Eavesdropping on the Brain”. I presented slides to a 4th-grade class on prosthetics and how they have evolved over human history, culminating with modern electronic prosthetic devices. The class was then able to try using a simple neuroprosthetic device from Backyard Brains (https://backyardbrains.com/products/clawBundle), which used recorded EMG signals to control a claw-like grasping device. EMG signals were illustrated in real-time on a smartphone, so that the students could relate their own muscle clenches to the recorded electrical signal as well as its effect on the neuroprosthetic claw. I also left a series of BAW school workbooks and puzzles with this class and with other teachers for their classes.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Website
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:
- It’s Mindboggling!
- BAW Stickers
- BAW Pencils
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- BAW Certificate of Participation
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- New Fact Sheets
- New Lesson Plans
- Activities/Experiments
- New Puzzles/Games
- New Coloring Sheets
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Poster
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
The students and teachers were very happy with the session, and multiple faculty members at my home institution commented favorably on it. I also heard directly from several parents how much their child enjoyed the session.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
I would love to see new BAW activities, puzzles, books. I would also *really* like a better-structured grade hierarchy for all of the BAW materials, such that event planners and supervisors could very quickly hone in on materials that were appropriate to their audience.
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