Abstract
Recently the American Physiology Society (APS) has been working to increase learning and making science fun for elementary school students. Physiology Understanding Week (PhUn) is the APS initiative to use interactive experiments to engage school‐age children with science and physiology. In this project we used a Biopac MP40 system to measure brain activity of fourth grade students at Dixie Bee Elementary School. The activity was divided in 5 different sessions, one per room, in two different days, reaching 116 elementary school students. Each room was divided in small 4‐student groups with the following general activity set‐up: 1) brief presentation about brain physiology using a brain model, 2) measuring brain activity during 3 different conditions, 3) analyzing collected data, and 4) discussing obtained results. Three electrodes were placed behind the student's ear, 2 students per group. Brain activity was collected during 4 different activities: 1) resting with eyes closed, 2) doing a math problem, 3) writing a sentence in cursive, and 4) playing catch with tennis ball. Our goal was to illustrate how brain activity changes while performing different tasks. The other 2 students controlled the computer and observe the changes in brain activity while they recorded the results. The students completed charts with the values of alpha, beta, and delta waves for each of the activities performed. This activity allowed the students to use applied technology while learning about the functions of the brain. This interactive method enables students to be more involved and interested in science; it also captures their attention and makes learning ‘PhUn’.Supported by IU AHEC 14/15 #PIU081 and APS PhUn week program
Published Version
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