When the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020, we pivoted swiftly to online outreach and activities people could try using whatever materials they had on hand. Our “found object” neuron and glia building art project was born! LEARN MORE: Reconnecting Our Brains, One Cell at a Time LEARN MORE: Action AND…
One of Northwest Noggin’s signature art projects! We love crafting new neurons and glia out of pipe cleaners (or chenille stems), which are widely and affordably available in North American public schools. DISCOVER: ABOUT Pipe Cleaner Neurons MAKE YOUR OWN: MAKE Pipe Cleaner Neurons(Design by David Shaw, Intel) CREATE: How to…
Post written by Kerry Barahona, undergraduate in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. Kerry has interned in Dr. Laura Villasana‘s lab at Legacy Research Institute. If you asked me fifteen, ten, or even five years ago, I never would have said that I saw myself in research or…
“A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” — Nelson Mandela We love public schools And we love questions! Asking students what they already know about brains, and what they want to explore – really, anything – leads to fascinating, compelling opportunities to learn more, for everyone.…
“Walkers are ‘practitioners of the city,’ for the city is made to be walked. A city is a language, a repository of possibilities, and walking is the act of speaking that language, of selecting from those possibilities.” — Rebecca Solnit Paseo in Portland A paseo is a leisurely walk through a…
Post by Tira Gaston and Britta Harbury, undergraduates in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University, and Bill Griesar. Tira and Britta have participated in multiple outreach visits through nwnoggin.org. This week, NW Noggin returned to the amazing Bridges to Pathways Residential Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in historic…
Post by Lauren Kuiper, undergraduate in Psychology and Interdisciplinary Neuroscience at Portland State University. “The brain struggling to understand the brain is society trying to explain itself.” — Colin Blakemore The time we have spent in the classrooms at various elementary schools in the Portland and Vancouver area has been a…
At Northwest Noggin we got our start way back in 2012 with our first all volunteer summer program. We were poorly paid adjuncts in neuroscience and art, and programs like these were out of reach for our own kids. Portland’s huge Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) ran popular…
Post by Tonia Bautista, undergraduate Psychology major and interdisciplinary neuroscience minor at Portland State University. Tonia joined Noggin outreach volunteers at Ogden Elementary in Vancouver Public Schools this month, including fellow PSU undergraduates Yasaman Farhand, Britta Harbury, Kristin Preston, Roman Cimkovich, Elizabeth Munk, Lauren Kuiper, Hannah Shawo, Tira Gaston and…
“This is so cool! I love hands on stuff – even hands on BRAINS!” —3rd grader at Washington Elementary in Vancouver Public Schools On a brisk, chilly, windy morning, with temps hovering around freezing, some awesome and talented undergraduate and graduate students arrived early at Washington Elementary in Vancouver to…