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Parts of the roller brain

  • Neuroanatomy, brain control of behavior

    This hands-on activity uses play doh to teach learners about the names, locations, and functions of several parts of the brain through the relatable lens of sports. This activity is best for kids between pre-kindergarten and early middle school (and their caregivers) who have not yet learned about the nervous system. As needed, this activity can be scaled up in scope of topics discussed or in detail of each structure.

Ages: 5-11 years old

 

Learning Objectives:

  1. Pronounce the names of the four brain lobes of the cerebral cortex, the cerebellum, and the brain stem.

  2. Identify the locations of each structure presented.

  3. Name one function for each structure presented.

For more advanced students, introduce anatomical terms (e.g. sulcus, gyrus, hemisphere) and directional terms (rostral, caudal, superior, inferior, medial, lateral, anterior, posterior, dorsal, ventral).

 

Supplies Needed (total cost~ $75; makes 40-50):

  • Brain model                                                                                                                $30-50

e.g. QWork Life-sized Color Coded Brain Model (Amazon.com) or Learning Resources Anatomically Accurate Life Sized Brain Model     

  • Play doh in a variety of colors                                                                                    $10     

  • Air dry potter’s modeling clay (neutral color)                                                          $20

  • Plastic baggies                                                                                                            $5

  • Disposable drop cloth

 

Preparation:

  • Using 1-2 ounces of clay, roll clay into an oblong, egg-shaped ball.

  • Place on a sheet or other flat surface, and allow to air-dry to firm for 3-5 days before use.

  • Set out disposable drop cloth, brain model, rolled clay balls, and play-doh cans on a table. It helps to open the lids of the playdoh cans in advance (little kids’ smaller fingers can have trouble opening them on their own).

 

Activity Instructions:                                                                                                   10-15 minutes for groups of 3-5 kids/caregivers

  • Introductions

    • Ask each child their name and what kind of sport they play or physical activity they engage in. Note that some kids don’t play sports but you can ask if they like hiking, riding a bicycle, skate-boarding, etc.

    • Share your regular and/or derby name and state that you play roller derby. Give a 30 sec explanation for anyone who is unfamiliar

      • “Roller derby is a very fun, full contact sport played on roller skates where the team that earns the most points wins. On each team there is a jammer, who scores points by getting around all the other players. There are also four blockers, who each try to help their jammer score points while trying to stop the other team’s jammer”.

  • Explain the activity

    • “In sports we use our brains a lot so today we will be making an athlete’s brain with playdoh.”

  • Ask kids to identify where their brains are.

  • Hold the brain model up to your head to show how the brain sits inside the skull.

  • Have kids select one clay brain base.

  • Frontal Lobe

    • Ask kids to pick out a color and grab a small (thumb-nail sized) portion of dough.

    • Point to your forehead/front part of the brain model.

    • State that this part of the brain is the “frontal lobe”; have kids repeat after you (outside voices are best for this, if possible).

    • Have kids smear the dough onto the front part of their clay ball brain bases.

    • Explain that the frontal lobe is important for many things, including our ability to move.

    • Give examples using roller derby and the sports/physical activity each learner does. You can also have more advanced learners try to guess what they think a lobe does and think up examples from their own sport.

      • “I am a jammer, and I try to score points for my team. My frontal lobe moves my legs so that I can skate quickly around the track”.

      • For more experienced learners, you can describe other frontal lobe regions (prefrontal cortex, Broca’s area, olfactory bulb) and functions (executive function/planning, emotional processing, inhibition) as they relate to sports.

  • Parietal Lobe

    • Indicate the parietal lobe by pointing to your top of your head on your crown/top back part of the brain model.

    • State that this part of the brain is the “parietal lobe”; have kids repeat after you.

    • Ask kids to grab a small portion of dough in a different color.

    • Have kids smear the dough onto the back top part of their clay ball brain bases, right behind the first color.

    • Explain that the parietal lobe is important for many things, including our sense of touch. Give examples using roller derby and sports/physical activities the kids do.

      • “My parietal lobe senses the hip check another blocker just landed against my body and tells me what part of my body was hit”.

      • For more experienced learners, you can discuss proprioception, the sense of where we are within an environment and relative to the objects within it using sports-related examples.

  • Occipital Lobe

    • Point to the back of your head/back part of the brain model.

    • State that this part of the brain is the “occipital lobe”; have kids repeat after you.

    • Ask kids to grab a small portion of dough in another color.

    • Have kids smear the dough onto the back lower part of their clay ball brain bases, right below the second color.

    • Explain that the occipital lobe is important for our sense of vision/how we see. Give examples using roller derby and sports/physical activities the kids do.

      • “Our occipital lobe interprets what we see in our environment. When I am playing roller derby, my occipital lobe tells me that the jerseys my teammates are wearing are purple but the other team’s jerseys are green.“

      • For more experienced learners, you can discuss how neurons projecting from occipital lobe to parietal lobe (that processes proprioception), called the dorsal stream, interpret objects in motion, like the ball spiraling off into left field, or the bike wheels spinning, or that charging blocker coming to lay you out.

  • Temporal Lobe

    • Point to the sides of your head/brain model.

    • State that this part of the brain are the “temporal lobes”; have kids repeat the name after you.

    • Ask kids to grab two small portions of dough in another color and smear each onto the left and right parts of their clay ball brain bases.

    • Explain that the temporal lobe is important for many things, most notably our sense of hearing. Give examples using roller derby and sports/physical activities the kids do.

      • “Located on either side of our head, our temporal lobes get information about what we hear from our ears. Using my temporal lobe, I can hear the roar of the crowd as we jump the apex and pass all the opposing team’s blockers.”

      • For more experienced learners, you can discuss how neurons projecting from the occipital lobe to the temporal lobe through the ‘ventral stream’ interpret the identify of the objects we see. These neurons tell me that the large blob over there is a blocker and that blocker my teammate who will give me some offense to help me get through the pack of blockers and score points.

      • You can also highlight that deep within this lobe is the ‘hippocampus’ that part of the brain that is important for learning and memory. This is the area of the brain that allows us to learn a new sport and remember the rules.

  • Cerebellum

    • Point to the cerebellum on the brain model and state that this is the cerebellum.

    • Ask kids to grab two small portions of doh in another color and roll them into small spheres.

    • Have kids push their spheres onto the back bottom side of their clay ‘brains’ just below the occipital lobe.

    • Explain that this part of the brain is important for balance. Give examples using roller derby and sports/physical activities the kids do.

      • “My cerebellum helps me dance along the line on my toe stops to get past the pack”.

  • Brain Stem

    • Point to the top of your neck/brain stem on the brain model and state that this is the brain stem.

    • Ask kids to pick out another color and roll it into the shape of a cylinder or a log.

    • Have the kids gently push the dough cylinder onto the base of the brain under the cerebellum spheres.

    • Explain that this part of the brain is important for vital life functions, like keeping our lungs breathing and our hearts moving blood through our bodies. Highlight that this is why it is so important to keep our brain safe while we play our sports and part of that means wearing our helmets.

  • Wrap-up

    • Hand each child a plastic bag to take their brains home.

    • Summarize each of the brain regions you made.

    • Compliment each of the kids on their brains, thank them for visiting, and remind them to ‘protect their brains’ by wearing their helmets.

    • Encourage caregivers to take pictures and tag you/the league on social media.