Our Noggin volunteers from WSU Vancouver and Portland State spent two afternoons speaking with 6th through 8th graders at Sabin K-8, a PPS school in Northeast Portland…
We spoke in four Health classes about adolescent brain development, and concrete steps we all can take to improve brain health, including good sleep, and limits on bright screen exposure in the evening. We also touched on the importance of nutrition, social engagement, exploration, and physical activity…
Making mistakes, including embarrassing, or even outrageous social errors, is another important part of healthy brain development – mistakes offer real opportunity for growth and learning, and physical rewiring of frontal lobe networks essential for engaging in “appropriate” behavior in varied social settings…
Students also drew and colored brains, with lobes that could be flipped up to reveal lists of functions linked to localized neural networks…
Thanks to science teacher Deborah Heggem for welcoming us to her classroom!