Neuroscience for Kids


Facilitator: Dr. Bruce Ellis (@DrBruceEllis) | http://bit.ly/Neuroscience4Kids

We'll discuss the latest in brain-based learning, as well as how to have conversations with students about how their brains work. You'll leave with a list of resources, research, and relevant ideas to support your students.

we are neuroscientists

Neuroscientists study the brain and its impact on behavior and learning. As neuroscientists we are figuring out how to understand our own learning and how we learn best so we can become the best learners of whatever we are studying.

Big topics

Sleep

Getting good sleep helps you strengthen what you learned during the day so you retain it longer. It gives your brain time to make connections with other learning and memories and may even help you have more creative ideas! REF

Spaced Practice vs Interleaving Practice vs. Mass Practice

Spaced practice is when a shorter learning time is taken to practice a skill and if followed by a time when no learning is being engaged. Interleaving Practice is when shorter learning time to practice a skill is followed by a short time of learning a different skill, and so on. Mass Practice is where a single large block of time used to learn/practice a skill. Of the three, mass practice is least effective - though most used in our educational system. Spaced practice seems to be most effective in that the brain is able to restore resources used before next cognitive load demand is placed on the brain. REF1 REF2 REF3

Fun/Play/Pleasure Make for More Learning-Positive Environment

Besides giving students dopamine hits (that we interpret as pleasure and enjoyment), when children play they are learning "how to collaborate, empathize, solve problems, and persevere. Play awakens the sort of thinking that leads us to write novels, compose music, design buildings, and make scientific discoveries. Our exceptional capacity for play sets the stage for all of humanity's great advances." (Susan Magsamen, Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute and Science of Learning Institute). Be careful though, we when impose (too many?) rules on play, the benefits are greatly diminished). REF

Consider how Cognitive Effort Can be Rewarded

Little research has been done but scientists are recognizing that under certain circumstances extrinsic rewards to cognitive effort can lead to intrinsic rewarding for cognitive effort. Consider looking further into

activities with students

Brain Plasticity Visual with Play-dough

Give each student a piece of Play-dough. Have them 'warm it up' a minute by kneading it in their palms. Have them to take various items (end of pencil, thumb, watch band, etc.) and make impressions in the dough. Talk about how you can remold the dough each time because you've taken care of it. It is malleable and can receive the new impressions. If the dough is left out, ignored, and not attended to what happens? It dries out and becomes less useful. In a similar way, we need to think about how we are taking care of our brains so that we can be the best learners. Have students create a poster with ideas on how they can take care of their brains so they can learn better. Students share out. Be sure to store the Play-dough properly afterwards đŸ˜‰

Making Milk into Plastic

Our brains can do a lot of things. But, if we don't treat them with care, we can diminish our ability to learn and enjoy learning. Some stress is good for learning but too much can start having negative consequences on our ability to retain new information as well as connect it to prior (and future) learning. For this activity, you will need:

INGREDIENTS: 1 cup milk, 4 teaspoons white vinegar, bowl, and strainer

DIRECTIONS: Heat the milk until it is hot but NOT boiling. Pour the milk in the bowl. Add the vinegar and begin stirring for about a minute. Students should notice that the milk is clumping together and making curds. Pour the mixture in the strainer. Take the curds and begin kneading them. You now have casein plastic. You have about an hour to mold and shape as desired. Leave to harden for up to 48 hours.

Some heat applied to the milk can be a good thing. It helps make great chocolate milk, creamy macaroni and cheese, and delicious puddings and custards. Besides heating the milk, we added an acid to the milk which was like adding more stress in your life. When enough acid is added to the hot milk, the protein structures begin to unfold and straighten and no longer behave as they did before. Similarly, when we aren't able to manage the level of stress in our lives (or add too much stress to learning activities...i.e. state tests?), we actually don't get the learning benefits that we wanted...and sometimes have negative learning take place.

FUN FACT: Casein plastic (made above) was commonly used to make many plastic items between 1900-1945 such as handles, buttons, fountain pens, combs, and some jewelry.

Quick Dive

Go to one of the following resources and bring back a pearl to share with the group.