Many educators we work with travel to conferences and trainings around their home states and countries, and a few of them even take students! Amy Farkas, from Riverview Michigan, (Read more about her class here) took her 8th graders this past year to a handful of conferences to bring what they’ve learned to the real world. At the conferences, the students presented their work and research to other students, educators, and professionals.
We spoke with Amy to hear about the experience and the impact that neuroscience outreach had on the students. For more about her work in the classroom this past year, check out our other blog post:
Last school year we worked with teachers across the country to help bring real, meaningful neuroscience lessons into their classrooms. From 5th grade to university, educators and students loved learning about how the brain works, how we study the brain, and how we engineer devices that can be controlled by the brain!
One educator, in particular, had a compelling project for her students.
We met Deborah Antrim, a medical pathway and 8th-grade teacher in Rio school district, at CSTA this past year, and she told us all about the successes she had had with Backyard Brains gear in her classes and summer camps!
We asked her to share some pictures and details about how she had engaged her students with DIY neuroscience, and she had this to say:
“We love our SpikerBoxes and Claw! We have a Science Summer camp- with my love of anatomy and physiology, I taught action potentials and explained the sodium/potassium pump and neural conductivity.
Setting up The Claw!
“When researching activities, I found the Spiker box- PERFECT! Very easy to use, STEM all the way! Our superintendent was enamored with the thought something like this even existed- ha!”
This is a great example of how DIY Neuroscience is not just a fantastic opportunity for your students, but it is also your chance to be the “rockstar science teacher!” When the superintendent is looking for chances to brag about your district and school, you’ll be the classroom that they use as an example of how they’re bringing cutting-edge STEM to the students and community!
Students prepare a cricket leg for Action Potential Recordings
In closing, Deb proclaimed, “I am the biggest BYB fan!”
Well, let that be an example and a challenge! Are you a bigger BYB fan? Test your mettle and share examples of your classroom or projects! Email us at hello@backyardbrains.com to share your story!
Bring these same experiments to life in your classroom!
