30 Lab 11: Brainstorming Neuroscience Literacy Fair Topics
Erin Mazerolle
Learning Objectives
With your group of 3-5 members,
- Brainstorm potential neuroscience literacy topics
- Briefly describe your proposal – linking an area of neuroscience to a specific medium (or specific media) of your choosing
We are preparing to host a Brain Bee – a competitive neuroscience event for high school students (Grades 9-12). These events happen at the regional (here), national (Canada), and international level, with participants progressing through based on the results of each competition. As part of our local event, we would like to have you create a neuroscience fair for the high school participants. In preparation for that part of the event, you will select a neuroscience literacy fair topic.
Assignment
Choose a book, show, movie, influencer, YouTube channel, game, etc. Select a topic that the audience (high school students) is likely to have an interest in or be familiar with. Each group must select a unique idea. Select two ideas so that we can be sure to have a good range of topics (ordered by preference).
IDEAS:
- Inside Out (film)
- The Last of Us (show has 16+ rating on common sense media; game)
- The Walking Dead (show)
- Professor X (X-Men; film, comic)
- Harry Potter hallucination theory (book)
- Cartoon head injuries (e.g., Looney Tunes)
- Concussion (film)
- The Father (film)
- Away from Her (film)
- The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (film, book)
- Welcome To Marwen (film)
- Memento (film)
- Inception (film)
- Describe what aspects of the neuroscience in your topic are correct, what aspects are incorrect, and how you can tell.
- Describe why it matters and how it could be done differently.
- A limited number of screens/projects will be available; plan for your visuals to be physical objects such as poster boards.
- Consider how to engage your audience members, rather than just talk at them.
Homework
- Submit your two ideas with a 1-2 sentence description of the media piece (e.g., We are going to create a station on the accuracy of neuroscience representations in hospital dramas such as The Pitt).
- Ask a question about the piece that you will investigate to create your station (e.g., Are strokes portrayed accurately in hospital dramas?)
Graded on 1) completion and 2) connection to content and likelihood to generate interest.
You and your group members will be contacted via your student email accounts to indicate which of the two ideas will be your fair topic moving forward in this semester.
