Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
11
Year:
2018
Type of Events Held:
- Exhibit
- School Program
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
- General Public
Approximate Number of People Reached:
>1000
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
Over the course of Brain Awareness Week (March 12-18th, 2018), Baltimore Brain Connect (BBC) coalesced volunteer scientists, artists and educators to introduce art-based neuroscience lessons into the classroom. Fourth graders across Baltimore City learned about neuronal structure, function, and how an individual’s emotional and physical state effect brain function and behavior. These lessons were translated into an art activity where students constructed pliable wire and beads into neuronal sculptures and learned how lifestyles and emotions can impact their own brain function. The students chose different colored beads for terminal boutons, where each color represented a distinct physical or emotional state. A second neuro-art project was designed to illustrate the concerns, hopes and ideas are of all ages of people across Baltimore city and to find cohesion and connectedness in those ideas. The art project prompted participants to draw “What’s on your Mind” on a stylized upper body image, after reading a brief description of how your brain functions, and how your external environment in turn effects brain function. To close the week of outreach, the BBC organized a public one-day Festival celebrating curiosity and brain research at the Port Discovery Children’s Museum in Baltimore. The event showcased hundreds of the ‘What’s on your mind’ posters, and an installation of the classroom sculpted neurons. The goal of the BBC week of events was to make neuroscience and brain research discoveries accessible and engaging to the public, and to spark scientific curiosity in the community. We anticipate developing this into inaugural event that continues to highlight benefits of basic neuroscience in Baltimore.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Emails
- Posters/Flyers
- 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:
- BAW Stickers
- BAW Pencils
- Brain-shaped Erasers
What downloadable materials from the Foundation did you use for your events?
- Q&A: Answering Your Questions About Brain Research Fact Sheets
- Puzzles: Grades K-2
- Puzzles: Grades 3-5
- Brain Briefs Fact Sheets
- Kids Fact Sheets Grades 3-5
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- New Fact Sheets
- New Lesson Plans
- Activities/Experiments
Which BAW graphic materials did you use in publicizing your events?
- BAW Flyer
- BAW Logos
- BAW Twitter Cover Photo
- BAW Facebook Cover Photo
Feedback & Keys to Success
How do you feel BAW participation benefited your organization and the local community?
We had great engagement with the community and many asked if we would repeat the event again next year. Many of the participants had not interacted with scientists before, so this event was very well received.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
It can be difficult to have a wide reach of participants. Going into school classrooms prior to our grand event helped spread the word (and participation) of the grand event held at the end of the week.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
No
Was the information provided on Facebook useful?
I didn’t visit it often.
