Answers—RonaldWantsToKnow:function,brain,control,body,spinalcord

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A FREE ICE CREAM CONEUnscramble the words and bring in your answers for

NIE Coordinator: Dana Wolfe / Graphic Designer: Scarlett E. Smith

Your brain is the captain of anamazing ship. It controls everythingyou do – including reading newspa-pers like the Troy Daily News, PiquaDaily Call and Sidney Daily News!

Your brain is part of your body’snervous system. The nervous systemcontrols movement, thought and emo-tion. Without your nervous system, youwouldn’t be able to function.

The brain is the boss of your nerv-ous system and has five parts: thecerebrum, the cerebellum, the brainstem, the pituitary gland and the hypo-thalamus.

The cerebrum is the biggest part ofthe brain that controls thought, lan-guage and voluntary muscles, whichare the muscles you can control. Youalso use your cerebrum when youthink hard in school and when youneed to remember things.

The cerebellum is a lot small thanthe cerebrum, but still very important.It controls balance, movement andcoordination. If it weren’t for the cere-bellum, you wouldn’t be able to standwithout falling!

Your brain stem connects the restof the brain to your spinal cord. It’s thepart in charge of major things thatkeep you alive, like breathing, bloodpressure and digesting food. Unlikethe cerebrum, the brain stem controlsyour involuntary muscles – the ones

The Mighty, All-Powerful Brain

From Here to There

that work without you thinking about it, such as yourheart and stomach.

The tiny pituitary gland produces and releaseshormones into the body – hormones like the onesthat help you grow and change.

Finally, your hypothalamus regulates your bodytemperature, emotions, hunger and thirst.

The brain has many jobs, but it needs help fromnerves and the spinal cord, too. Every action you dohappens because your brain, your nerves and yourspinal cord work together!

(Adapted from Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS & the BrainEducator’s Guide.)

Images © Gunther vonHagens, Institute for

Plastination, Heidelberg,Germany,

www.bodyworlds.com.

Protect Your Brain!Whether you bike, skateboard or Rollerblade,

you should wear a helmet to shield your brain.To demonstrate why, get two eggs. Pretend that

the egg’s shell is a skull and its insides are thebrain. Spread some newspaper on the ground anddrop one of the eggs on the newspaper. It shouldbreak – because it wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Now, use newspaper, tissue paper, Styrofoamor anything else that will cushion your egg, tomake a “helmet” for your second egg. Drop youregg wearing the helmet from the same height.

Notice that it remained unbroken (we hope.)Are you starting to think it’s a good idea to wear ahelmet while biking and skating?

If your second egg broke, was your “helmet”designed unsafe? Did the egg fall at an angle thatleft it unprotected? How could you make a betterhelmet?

(Adapted from “Protect Your Brain” fromHowtosmile.org, University of Washington.)

Follow each step to change one word into another word. Start with the word"brain" and end up with a new neuroscience word at the end. At each stepwrite the new word in the spaces. (Note: not all of the new words are "real"words.)

brain

Take the "b" out of the word "brain."

__ __ __ __

From this new word, take out the "i."

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Place the last letter at the front of this word.

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Add an "e" between the first and second letters of this word.

__ __ __ __

Add a "u" right in the middle of this word.

__ __ __ __ __

Add an "l" to the end of this word.

__ __ __ __ __ __

Change the "a" to an "o" in this word.

__ __ __ __ __ __

Add a "ogy" to the end of this word.

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Take out the "logy" and replace it with an "n" in this word.

__ __ __ __ __ __

How many neuroscience words did you make? How many other words?

Brain PuzzleCut out these pieces along the dotted lines. Mix up thepieces, then try to put the brain back together.