Northeast
Center for Special Care is pleased to feature:
Neuroscience for Kids
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html
A long time ago Ben Franklin said: "An ounce of
prevention is worth a pound of cure." Ben
may not have understood brain injury as we do today,
however, the advice is exactly the message we pass
onto young people - 'the only way to cure a brain
injury is to prevent one from happening.' In the
future we are going to highlight sites that deal
primarily with prevention of brain injury but this
month we go back to basics and feature a site that provides basic information about the brain and how
it functions, and is designed for young people.
With more awareness about concussion and school
sports, as well as bicycle safety,
resources about the brain itself might be a good place
to start in helping young people gain a better understanding
of their own brain while laying a foundation of
knowledge that will make
prevention education more meaningful. Our site
of the month does just that and not
only did we learn a few things, we had an awful lot of
fun doing it.
Neuroscience for Kids has been online for over a
decade. It was created and is maintained by
Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D. and was supported by a Science
Education Partnership Award (R25 RR12312) from the
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR).
A comprehensive site that is easy to navigate,
Neuroscience
for Kids gives young visitors a good overview of
neuroscience, the brain, the central nervous system,
sensory system, neurological disorders and much more -
so much more a visitor can spend a lot of time on this
site.
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Screenshot
of the Neuroscience
for Kids homepage. A great web
resource with dozens of experiments,
activities, interactive games, articles for
young people and teachers guides for use in the
classroom. |
We'll
highlight a few sections of Neuroscience for Kids
starting with an Experiment section that is full of assorted and fun experiments
and learning tasks aimed a young visitors:
Modeling the Nervous System
provides step-by-step guides to making models of
neurons, the brain, the spine and other parts of the
nervous system with plenty of pictures to help visitors
along. For instance you can make a model of a neuron
using a CD and string or make them out of pipe
cleaners, beads, clay, among other materials. A visitor
can even learn to make a neuron Halloween
costume! There are clear instructions with all
of these and we've only highlighted a few.
Brain Games is a fun section that utilizes
Adobe Shockwave to allow visitors to play these online
games. While you are there you can play Neuro-Jeopardy,
two versions of "Simon" games, a Face
Memory game where you try to memorize a cartoon
face and then find the different part of the face from
multiple choices for example, you can select from
three noses, however, you must select the correct nose
as well as, eyes, chin, mouth, etc. The games
lets the player know when they are right or wrong.
The
Senses has games related to sight, smell, taste, hearing
and touch. Some of the games are in the form of
activities that a visitor can do on their own or
web-based such as a game where the visitor identifies
sounds. The
Neuroscience for Kids
website author tells you the grade level each activity
is appropriate for. There are also lesson plans
for teachers to assist in utilizing the materials in
the games section. There are literally dozens of
different games and activates in this section of the
site - it's really quite a resource and all designed
to help young people learn about the brain, the
central nervous system and how they work.
Explore is another large section that helps young
visitors learn about the full range of neuroscience
and the brain. A number of subheadings take the
visitor to more detailed information, these include: Brain
Basics, Higher Functions, The Spinal Cord, The Peripheral
Nervous System, Neurological and Mental
Disorders as well as other topics. Under Brain
Basics there is an illustrated article about how
the nervous system interacts with other body
systems. You really have to visit
Neuroscience for Kids
to appreciate how
much information is contained on the site.
There are other features of Neuroscience for Kids
such as Neuroscience in the News, that links to articles
about the brain, and
related topics. There is a newsletter visitors can subscribe
to, a postcard page where you can select a
"brain" postcard with brain images and
clever sayings - it comes as an online jigsaw puzzle
which you put together and solve using your mouse and
afterwards you can send the puzzle as
a postcard to a friend by email!
And while visitors have fun on this site they get the
opportunity to learn about the brain and nervous
system and how they work through the puzzles, games, coloring books, brain fact
calendars and dozens of other learning activities that
visitors can download - the more you investigate
Neuroscience for Kids, the more fun things you
find and the more you learn. There is even a
section with brain songs!
We haven't even scratched the surface of this terrific
site in this brief
article - there is a lot of features on Neuroscience
for Kids to help young
minds learn about neuroscience and the
brain. The good news is Neuroscience
for Kids is still being updated and it is a lot of
fun. We had a blast using the site and so will
you, as well as young people. Having a good
basic knowledge of the brain helps young people (and
adults too) appreciate the importance of
prevention. If you like the Neuroscience
for Kids,
while you are visiting you can donate online to help
support the site and ensure that it will be there in
the years to come.
Please take the time to visit
Neuroscience
for Kids,
It’s
our website of the month for July 2008 and they are just
a click away; don’t forget to bookmark them so you can
visit again.
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Disclaimer:
Reference in this web site to any specific
organizations, commercial products, process, service,
manufacturer, or company does not constitute its
endorsement or recommendation by Northeast Center for
Special Care.
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