Task Cards Brain Easy

BRAIN TRIP
Flip a coin and move from brain to brain in this board game.  Learn about how to take care of your brain!  Tell one thing you will use to help you take care of your brain.  Find the game in the BrainBox.


LOST CONNECTIONS
Can you find the way for these neurons?  Follow the neuron trails (the “axons”) at the top of this picture to the neurons at the bottom.  Cam you match the neurons?  Find this game in the BrainBox.  Show how you were able to follow the axon trails.



BRAIN CONCENTRATION
Test your memory using this classic card game.  Find the cards in the BrainBox.  Time yourself and see if you can match the cards more quickly with practice.  Share the results.
 

BRAIN IT!
Try playing “Go Fish” except using Brain Cards.  Get to know the different brains of animals, or the different parts of the brain, as you play this game with two to five students.  Everyone has to show the cards and what they depict.


Left Brain, Right Brain
Your brain has two halves, called “hemispheres” – you have one hemisphere on your right side and one on your left. Some people tend to rely on the right hemisphere, while others rely on the left. Which side do you use the most?
Pair up with a friend and try this experiment. Ask your friend to do the Task, and then write down which side of their body they used to do it.  The worksheet is in the BrainBox.  Test several of your classmates.  What did you find?

WORD BUILDER
See how quickly you can build these words!  If you like, have a contest with yourself to see how quickly you can go as you work through the units.
If grade 1 is too easy, get someone to help you move to a different grade.  Keep track of your scores in your DailyLog and show it.


EWORD GAME – VOCABULARY
How many words are kept in your brain?  Find out with this game.  Go through the grade levels and units and keep scores in your DailyLog.  At what level was your best score?  Write down one word that was new for you.  Show your log.

LIFITING THE LID ON WHAT’S INSIDE YOUR HEAD
First, read pages 2 and 3 or Understanding Your Brain in the Brain library.  Then go to the website below and click on “Brain Specimens” and look at all that are interesting to you.  When you finish, go back to the first page and click on “3-D Brain Puzzle” to demonstrate your new knowledge of brains.  Show the completed puzzle to an adult and explain it.



OUCH!  WHY THINGS HURT
Click here to find out why things hurt.  Read through this website.  There is text at the top of the page, then some ads, so you need to scroll down to read the rest.  Have fun learning about how the brain works throughout your whole body.  Then share what you have learned.


BRAIN BAFFLERS
The Who, What & Where Book of Brain Bafflers.  Pick up this detective tool from the Brain Library, and turn your curious mind to its puzzles.  See how many you can solve! Do not write in the book.  If you choose to do a maze, have an adult copy the page.  Write your answers in your DailyLog and share them with an adult.
 
CHANGING SOUNDS
Explore the science of music by changing the sounds of musical instruments.  After you have completed the activity, take the quiz and record your results in your DailyLog.  Share this with an adult.
You will learn that sound is vibration and that changes in vibration can affect the loudness, pitch and quality of sound.  Can you make a demonstration of what you have learned?

Light and Dark
Use these different sources of light to learn about how light affects the dark.  Work through the exercise, and then take the quiz.  What did you learn?  Record your results in your DailyLog and be prepared to share it.


TRAIN YOUR BRAIN
Memory is not just one of many intellectual skills, it is the most important. This is because it directly affects every other intellectual process.
The good news is that Memory is the easiest mental process to train. Bad Memory? No problem.
Use the Memory tools on KidsMemory.com
 to TRAIN YOUR BRAIN.
Keep track of your progress in your DailyLog.  Share this with an adult.

Print after here:
BRAIN PARTS
Different parts of your brain control the different things that happen in your body. Read pages 4 and 5 of Understanding Your Brain, found in the brain library.  Try the quiz on page 5, recording your answers in your DailyLog.  Which side of your brain did you test?  Now read the handouts in the SpacePac and label the brain in the handout.  Then watch the movie (Have your headphones handy!)  Finally, take the quiz at the same site.  You may have to exit and click on the above address again.  Record results in your DailyLog.



WHAT’S INSIDE YOUR BRAIN?
No one understands exactly how the brain works.  But scientists know the answer lies with the billions of tiny cells, called neurons, which make up your brain.  Learn about these nerve cells by reading pages 6 and 7 in Understanding Your Brain in the brain library.  Then watch the movie at: Neuron  Wear your headphones!  Make a report to an adult.


THE NERVY NERVOUS SYSTEM
Go to this site and click on “The Nervous System” to see a very nervy movie about the nervous system and the brain.  Be sure to have headphones!


 
PROBE THE BRAIN
This activity maps the brain's motor cortex. Lying on an operating table is a patient. A surgeon has removed the top of his skull, exposing the brain. Move your cursor over the motor cortex, highlighted in yellow, causing the pointer to change into a probe. Depressing the mouse button lowers the probe to touch the brain. Depending on the location touched, a body part moves. What happens after the seventeenth and final motor area is found?  Which side of the body responds when you probe it? Report on your success to an adult.




NEURON LABORATORY
What is wrong with Frankenstein’s brain?  It will take a brain surgeon like you to fix it. Learn all you can from the laboratory, and then do the delicate brain surgery.  Were you able to save him?  Report on your success to an adult.





ECSTACY INVADERS
Our ship (the brain!) is having communication problems.  We are running out of neurotransmitter pods we use to talk to other ships.  We need your assistance on the assembly line.  Learn all about neurotransmission and join the crew to repair the problems.  Take your headphones and go to site. Share your success with an adult.
 
?NEURON EXPLOSION
Blow your mind and learn brain anatomy with this interactive neuron!  How many mistakes will you make?  Keep a record in your DailyLog so you can report to an adult what you have learned.  Take your headphones and go



BABY BRAINS
Read pages 8 and 9 of Understanding Your Brain from the brain library to see how you learned to use your head.  Then play these two games to show what you have learned:Neuron Navigator
And   Brain-O-Coaster
From which game did you learn the most about how baby brains develop?  Share what you have learned.


 
Meet Sumarri. Sumarri is in the second grade. While she likes all of her classes, her favorite times of the day are art class and ballet lessons. Lately, Sumarri has been learning about what goes on in her brain as she does all the things she enjoys. Come along as we spend a typical day with Sumarri. We'll see that her brain is very busy keeping this active little girl going!  Begin clicking your way through Sumarri's day by visiting her (and her brain!) as she's waking up. Then click the images in the timeline to follow her through her day's activities.  What changes did you see in her brain activity?  What is your brain doing right now?  Tell about what your brain has done today.
 
BORN OR BRED?
What makes one person a genius?  Read pages 10 and 11 of Understanding Your Brain from the brain library.  Take the test at the bottom of the page recording your answers in your DailyLog.  How did you do?  Explore the unknown world inside your brain with one or more of these activities from The Brain Explorer at:  (Keep track of your scores!) Show this to an adult.






MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
Your sense organs receive information from the world and turn it into electrical signals, which are sent to your brain where they are interpreted.  Learn about how this works by reading pages 12 and 13 of Understanding Your Brain from the brain library.  Where is your blind spot?  Learn more by going to: Brain and Senses
Take the quiz.  Record how many you got right.  What did you learn?  Lastly, try some of these optical illusions: 
How did you do?
ALL ABOUT YOUR BRAIN
Learn about your body’s control center. 
Take the quiz.  How did you do?  What part did you miss?  Do some research on that and tell what you have learned.
 

WHAT ARE MEMORIES?
Life without memory would be impossible.  How does it work?  Read pages 14 and 15 of Understanding Your Brain in the brain library.  Use the sections “Short-Term Memory” and “Storage” to test yourself and several other students.  Keep track of your results in your DailyLog.  Finally, try some of these memory games.  Keep track of how you do.  Does your score change when you try the hints they give you to help develop your memory?  Show an adult what you can remember!




LOONY LISTS
There are some things you never forget, such as your name and age.  Other facts and events, such as your worst day at school, you can remember whenever you want.  But other things are harder to recall.  Learn how to help yourself by reading pages 16 and 17 of Understanding Your Brain in the brain library.  Try the tests on yourself and then on a friend.  Try again next week!  Keep track of the results in your DailyLog.  For some intensive memory training go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/interactives/intelligenceandmemory/memorytest/

    STAYING THE SAME
Whatever you are doing or wherever you are, your brain tries to keep the conditions inside your body the same.  The ability to do this is called homeostasis.  It is controlled by the tiny part of your brain called the hypothalamus.  Learn about this by reading pages 18 and 19 of Understanding Your Brain from the brain library.  Then work through the first two pages of the animation 
How did you do at the drag and drop activity?  Share your results.

 
SLEEPYHEADS AND DREAMERS
Consciousness is what you are aware of at any moment.  Right now you are aware of what you are reading and where you are, or maybe a daydream.  But that could switch whenever you want!  Learn about consciousness and unconsciousness by reading pages 20 and 21 in Understanding Your Brain in the brain library. Most kids between the ages of 5 and 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night. We'll show you some animals and you choose which one needs more sleep - the kid or the animal. We'll keep score so you'll know if you're a sleep star or a snore loser!




DISEASES OF THE BRAIN
Your brain can go wrong, just like any other part of your body.  Read pages 22 and 23 of Understanding Your Brain in the brain library.  Do you have any phobias?  Play “Brain Attack” to learn about different types of stroke:
Could you build your ice cream sundae?  Answer the questions in the game in your DailyLog and show an adult.
   
ANIMAL BRAINS
What makes humans more intelligent than any other animal?  The answer is, of course, our brains!  But although our brains are the most complicated, even the simplest and tiniest animal can still do some amazing things.  Read pages 26 and 27 of Understanding Your Brain to learn more.  Learn about animal emotions.
Write in your DailyLog in what ways animals and you think alike!
 
BRAIN AND SENSES
Learn about your body’s control center by going through these animations.  Click on each of these:  “The Brain,” “How the Eye Works,” “How the Ear Works,” “Smell and Taste,” “The sensitivity of Your Skin,” and
“Making Connections.”  Afterwards there are quizzes.  Keep track of your scores and report them to an adult.  What did you learn? 








BRAIN AND SENSE – MORE!
Find out more about your brain and senses by following these links:  “Find the Matching Pairs!” “The Sensitivity of Your Skin,” “The Tongue,” “Optical Illusions,” “Brain and Senses Word Search,” “Brain and Senses Jigsaw,” and “Fascinating Brain Facts.”  How did you do?  Share all this fun information with an adult.  Go to:

LIVING LANGUAGE
Find out how the English Language has evolved through history by going to:
Then, click on “Discover More” and go to “ Writing Systems” and “Word Borrowing Plus.”  Write your name in Egyptian in your DailyLog.  Lastly, go back to the original page and click on “Match the Eponyms” and “Borrowing Words.”  What level did you reach?  Find your own example of an eponym and of a borrowed word.  You may need a dictionary!  Keep track of your scores and report to an adult. 












THE ANATOMY OF ENGLISH
Learn about how our language is built.  Go to the following website and then click on these games and animations:  “Naming Nouns,” “Adjective Detective,” “Idioms Game,” “Word Classes Jigsaw,” and finally “Discover More,” so you can click on “”Matching Pairs.”  How did you do?  Record your levels and scores in your DailyLog.  Think of three more idioms and their meanings.  Share this with an adult.



SURFING THE BRAIN WAVE
How much information is packed in your brain?  Learn about this by surfing along this site.  Be sure to check all the layers.  Be sure to always roll your curser over the brain pictures to learn all you can.  Then explain all you have learned to an adult.  Can you make a demonstration?  Go to:





BRAIN WAVE SURF
    Brian the Brain has surfed the waves of his thoughts.  Learn more about those waves in this coloring/activity booklet.  Color all the pages as the instruction says and use your brain to follow the mazes.  You will find this in the BrainBox.  Show it to an adult!