Provides a science program for students in grades 2–3 to educate them about their brains, why they should protect them, and how drugs such as nicotine and medications can be harmful. Includes six modules, parent newsletters, and videos.
Module 1: Ooey Gooey! Making Sense of Scientific Inquiry
The goal of the first module is to introduce students to the steps of scientific inquiry: observe, hypothesize, experiment, and conclude.
Module 2: Brains in a Box: What Your Brain Can Do
During the second module, students learn about the four major parts of the brain—cerebral cortex, cerebellum, brain stem, and limbic system—and their functions.
Module 3: Sending and Receiving Messages
This module builds on module 2 by introducing students to how nerve cells communicate with each other. This communication is known as “neurotransmission.”
Module 4: Medicine and Drugs: What's Helpful, What's Harmful
The purpose of this module is to help students learn about drugs and think about how drugs can affect the body either positively or negatively.
Module 5: The Science Behind Smoking
During this module, students perform a controlled experiment to see and compare what happens to a cigarette left in a cup of water for a week, a cup of water with nothing in it, and one with a leaf in it.
Module 6: How Drugs Affect the Brain
This module serves as a culminating activity and as an embedded assessment for the entire program.