Brain Awareness Week Activities (2000)

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The Eunice Kennedy Shriver Center hosted fifth graders from the Brackett Elementary School in Arlington, MA in observance of the 5th annual National Brain Awareness Week. Ms. LeiLanie D'Agostino's class enjoyed the nine different locations throughout the center where demonstrations and activities about the brain and behavior took place.

We would like to thank Darlene Butler, Christian Dibble, Naira Ahmad, Christine Kostek, Barbara Evans, and Jennifer Hall for volunteering as "tour" guides.

Reactions

Ms. Ann Walsh oversees the reaction time experiments carried out by the students. Students discovered that the more complex the task, the more time it took to get it right, but that in the end, everyone improved with practice.

Animal Learning

In the animal research laboratory of Dr. Sheila Mihalick these 5th graders gaze intently at the "in-cage" learning and memory test for this mouse. The apparatus houses a odor-based choice test for the subject, that if answered properly, results in a bit of chocolate as a reward.

Taste and Smell

Dr. Tammy Dellovade (right) and her assistant explore taste buds on their willing volunteer, while other classmates get a close-up view of the same structures on the tip of the tongue.

Brain Station

Students thoughtfully ponder the answers to Dr. Aline Davis' quizzes on brain structure at one of many "hands-on" activity stations. Dr. Stephen Oross (right) help students match brains to animals in a computer game. Students appreciated that different animals have very different looking brains.