Early Friday morning, a host of NW Noggin volunteers converged on Fort Vancouver High School with one thing on their minds: Brains!
It was the first in a series of four outreach sessions planned for the school over the next month, and scores of students jumped at the chance to learn about their rapidly developing brains.
Over the course of five hours, we taught a total of nine classes about the lobes of the brain and how they enable us to sense, think, feel, and act, as well as how our brains change in response to our environment and experiences.
Curious students asked a steady stream of questions about a wide range of topics, including whether we really use all of our brains (yes!), if we can grow new brain cells (sometimes), and why we dream (we don’t quite know yet, but stay tuned).
The students sculpted their own pocket-sized brains out of clay while we roamed the tables, answering questions and giving more in-depth explanations in small groups.
Everyone was eager to check out actual human brains, and, as always, photos were a must.
It was a whirlwind of a morning, and we look forward to returning next week for more fun with brains! This outreach effort is being organized by five terrific student leaders: Nathan Allen, Angela Gonzalez, Rosie Salice and Maxwell Neighdeigh from WSU Vancouver, and Allie Clark from PSU…
Post written by Allie Clark (from PSU Psychology), with pictures by Gaile Parker (also from PSU), and Rosie Salice and Angela Gonzalez (both from WSUV)…