Lodi Elementary School

I presented a tour of the brain to a group of 1st graders. I started by brainstorming about the brain (where is it and what does it do) Then, I talked about the 4 lobes of the brain and the cerebellum, told 1 thing that each area is responsible for, and did a short experiment with each area. For the frontal lobe, I said that it’s responsible for thinking and memory. We played a picture memory game to test their short-term memory. For the temporal lobe, I said that it’s responsible for hearing. We played a “guess-the-sound” game. For the occipital lobe, I said that it’s for vision (no experiment). For the parietal lobe, I said that it’s for the sense of touch, and we played a touch game (had to feel for certain items in a paper bag without using eyes). For the cerebellum, I said that it’s for balance and coordination. I had each one pat their head and rub their belly. And, we had a contest to see who could balance on 1 leg the longest. I finished by talking about how to keep their brains healthy by eating lots of fruits and vegetables and wearing a helmet. I brought in coloring sheets to reinforce the parts of the brain and what they do, and I handed out the coloring books, stickers, and pencils/erasers that I got through the DANA foundation. The kids were excited about the brain and seemed to really enjoy the presentation and talking about the brain. I feel that I achieved my goal of teaching the kids about the brain and getting them to think about keeping their brains safe.

Hopefully I got some kids interested in the brain and science in general.

For this age group, lots of activities were helpful. But, I also should have limited the amount of time for the small group activities– some of the kids got off task. The 1st graders really enjoyed the memory game (I could have done more or different ones). They also really enjoyed looking at the brain model that I brought it and many wanted to touch it.