The Brain in Health and Disease

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 09.06.06

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Background
  3. Objectives
  4. Strategies
  5. Activities
  6. Mouse Brain/Human Brain Demonstration
  7. Appendix A: Implementing District Standards
  8. Appendix B: Unit as a 4MAT Cycle
  9. Appendix C: Right-Brain Compatible/Left-Brain Compatible Teaching Strategies
  10. Appendix D: Multiple Intelligences Preferences and Strategies
  11. Annotated Bibliography
  12. Student Resources
  13. Websites for Student and Parent Use
  14. Notes

This Is Your Brain…This is Your Brain on Fire…Any Questions?

Sharyn Fisher Gray

Published September 2009

Tools for this Unit:

Mouse Brain/Human Brain Demonstration

Materials needed: old worksheets, small bowl, marker cap, pencil

Ask students to imagine that the bowl is a human skull and the marker cap is a mouse skull. (Using models of real skulls would make this activity more exciting!) The worksheets represent "information". Have students fill their "mouse skull" with "information" by tearing off a small piece of worksheet, rolling it into a loose ball, and fitting it into the marker cap. Next, have them take one piece of information and lay it on top of the bowl, and ask "Does it fit?" The answer is "no", but they should soon discover that if you crumple the paper, it will fit. Students should fill their "human brain" with as much "information" as possible by crumpling worksheets and pushing them into the bowl. Have students empty out both "brains" and examine the contents. Obviously the human brain, being much larger, was able to store more information, but crumpling the paper allowed it to hold much more. This is the reason for the gyri and sulci; the surface area of the brain is greatly increased, and this is where the connections for higher functioning take place.

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