Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
1
Year:
2018
Type of Events Held:
- Other
- Other: Neuroscience Fair
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
- General Public
- Middle school students(6-8)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
1000
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
We hosted our annual Neuroscience Fair at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. This event is aimed at sharing the excitement of neuroscience with elementary and middle school children. We have 17 stations with activities for a range of ages: Snap Circuits and electrical signals, The Claw from Backyard Brains, making candy DNA, isolated DNA from a banana, Neuroscientist Photo Booth, Be A Neuroscientist (pipetting, weighing and using a microscope), Deep Brain Stimulation with jello brains, human brain handling, Sparty’s Brain Zoo, optical illusions and other sensory tests, an egg drop for helmet safety and others. Spectrum Health ran a booth on epilepsy and Mercy Health Hauenstein Neurosciences ran a booth on stroke safety for kids. Kids received “passports” to earn stamps for visiting each booth that they traded in for MSU branded bags with BAW branded items from the Dana Foundation (coloring and activity books, stickers, pencils) and MSU branded items (pens and bags). We gave out about 450 goody bags. Both kids and parents were highly engaged in the activities.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Advertisements
- Calendar Listings (newspapers, radio, television)
- Emails
- Posters/Flyers
- Social Media
- Other
Other Publicity Methods:
Local morning shows, sending flyers to local schools
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!
- More Mindbogglers!
- The Mindboggling Workbook
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?
Our Neuroscience Fair is a highlight of our year. For outreach, this is an exciting event for kids. I think adding the passport sparked engagement. Indirectly, this event brings our department together. It also helps us interact with our community partners with similar research interests and has lead to some new possibilities for research collaborations. For the student and postdoc volunteers from the participating institutions, it is also a networking opportunity.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
No
