Event(s) Summary
Number of Events Organized During Brain Awareness Week:
3
Year:
2015
Type of Events Held:
- Open House
- School Program
Target Audiences:
- Elementary school students(1-5)
- General Public
- High School students(9-12)
- Middle school students(6-8)
Approximate Number of People Reached:
800
Details of Major Brain Awareness Week Events/Activities:
University of Washington Brain Awareness Week Open House: On March 3, 2015, approximately 650 students in grades 4-9 attended the University of Washington Brain Awareness Week Open House in the ballrooms of the Husky Union Building. This year the open house was supported by the Pacific Cascade Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience and the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering. As in past years, students started the Open House with a multimedia “Brain Assembly” with Dr. Eric Chudler. The students learned about neurotransmission, compared the brains of different animals and played with some visual illusions. Students then visited exhibits set up by University of Washington departments and other organizations. The Neurobiology and Behavior Community Outreach Program had exhibits to test the senses and materials to build neuron models. The DO-IT program, UW Department of Otolaryngology, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering, UW Department of Psychology, Epilepsy Foundation Northwest, Seattle Hydrocephalus Support Group, UW Department of Biological Structure, Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences, Pacific Science Center, Skyline High School, and Sowing the Seeds of Neuroscience all provided exhibits. School Visit: Dr. Chudler visited two different elementary schools for BAW. One presentation introduced the brain to early elementary school students, the other presentation focused on neurotechnology.
Event Planning & Publicity
Publicity Methods Used:
- Emails
- 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:
- Q&A: Answering Your Questions About Brain Research
- It’s Mindboggling!
- More Mindbogglers!
- BAW Pencils and Erasers
- The Mindboggling Workbook
What other downloadable materials would you like the Foundation to provide?
- Fact Sheets
- Lesson Plans
- Activities/Experiments
- New Puzzles/Games
- New Coloring Sheets
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 local neuroscience community was able to focus their outreach efforts around a single events. Schools also were able to organize activities to coincide with brain research.
Please share any suggestions or lessons learned that may help others plan future events:
Plan ahead.
Did/do you like our Facebook page?
No
Quotable comments which capture successful aspects of your event(s):
"I thought this field trip was a lot of fun. I learned so much about the brain on this field trip." "Thank you for letting us use your time by letting us see an awesome presentation about the brain and how it works."
