| When | Wednesday 2:30-3:30 |
| Teacher Name | LizAdams |
| Target Age Range | None - None |
| General Grade Level | Upper Elementary, Middle School, Lower High School, Upper High School |
| Ability Level | Introductory, Advanced Beginner, Intermediate |
| Skill Requirements/Prerequisites | possession and operation of a brain is essential. Also necessary: interest in the subject, small motor skills (coloring, clay modelling, fiddling small items), ability to participate productively in a group, reading, speaking, taking turns, following directions |
| Book Title | Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain, 3rd edition (2nd edition also fine) |
| ISBN | ISBN-13: 978-0-7817-6003-4 ISBN-10: 0-7817-6003-8 |
| Family Provided Materials | TBA (child?) any brain anatomy coloring book (I will be providing coloring pages, though), Oliver Sacks' "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat." I'll throw in other stuff as we go along. |
| Instructor Provided Materials | microscope, slides, brain models already at Voyagers for previous version of study group, copied pages |
| Study Group Style | Seminar, Discussion, Activity |
| Description | We will learn more about brains: what they are made of, how they work, and what they do. We'll use activities and information from the "Neuroscience for Kids" website, selections from a neurology coloring book, and I'll supplement with material from the Society for Neuroscience and a variety of other textbooks, including my favorite reference book, Cognitive Neuroscience III (ed. Michael Gazzaniga). Participants are welcome and encouraged to bring related material to the group, and to explore other resources. Spring 2008 content will depend on who's participating: a bit of review and new material if mostly carried-over from fall, or repeating the introductory material we learned about in the fall if the participants are mostly new. Questions: How does a neuron propagate its response to neurotransmitter? What's a neurotransmitter, anyway? What is signal transduction? Why do we care? What happens in a synapse? Oh pretty please can we do that math that's involved? What happens in Hodgkin & Huxley's model? Who are they, anyway? Website most content is based on is at: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html Students who are interested in the subject are welcome; please disregard age/grade level designation. I do insist that students be able to participate productively in a group. Check out "Brainbows" here: http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/node/7658 |