Summer SAVY 2017, Session 1/Day 4- Biology of the Brain (Rising 6th/7th)

Posted by morganr1 on Thursday, June 15, 2017 in SAVY.

Everyone agreed that the day went by way too fast today in Biology of the Brain! The students learned about the major neurotransmitters that are released in our brain when we are happy, sad, stressed out, scared, or exercising. We took a tour to the Neurochemistry Core Labs at Vanderbilt to learn about how scientists visualize and measure these tiny compounds called neurotransmitters. The instruments the scientists use are so sensitive that they can detect 1 picogram of material – that’s a tiny amount! We also liked playing with the dry ice… because that’s always fun.

The rest of the day we spent working on our individual and group projects. The students get to choose a topic they are interested in to research and figure out a way to present the new information to the rest of the students. I have been very impressed with the students’ work ethic and dedication to these projects! We also had a concept map competition to see who can fit the most information that we’ve learned this week on one poster board – it was a very close contest!

Tomorrow we will review everything we’ve done and take a look at the bigger picture of Biology of the Brain. We look forward to seeing the parents at the Open House tomorrow and to show you all we have learned this week. Our open house is at 3:15pm on 6th Floor of Murray.

Dr. LaPointe