Brain Awareness Week 2011

Brain Sciences on Tap for 12th Annual Brain Awareness Week at the Museum

Selected images from the Neuroanatomical Collections of the NMHM

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Introduction
What happens during Brain Awareness Week?
What are the Brain Awareness Week activity stations?
Who are the ‘Partners in Education’?
Who are Brain Awareness Week 2011 sponsors?
Brain Awareness Week news archive
Resources of note

Introduction

Since 2000, the National Museum of Health and Medicine has been proud to host Brain Awareness Week.

National Brain Awareness Week programs were first established by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives (Dana) in 1996, linking scientists, clinicians, journalists, and other educators (all “partners in education”) in an annual effort to raise public awareness about the brain and brain science.

In 2000, Dana joined forces with NMHM to develop a program designed especially for middle school students. The program has helped to instill a sense of excitement of science, while bringing awareness and understanding of current research and its translation into clinical practice to our young audience.

Our greatest hope is that Brain Awareness Week will inspire a new generation of scientists.

What happens during Brain Awareness Week?

During Brain Awareness Week, the Museum hosts our "Partners in Education" (see below) who engage visiting students (grades 5-8) with hands-on stations, with a focus on brain anatomy and topics related to neuroscience. Each day will include two sessions (morning and afternoon), and students will rotate in small groups through the stations. A plenary address before each session will introduce brain anatomy and offer other highlights to our budding neuroscientists.

What are the Brain Awareness Week activity stations?
Each day, our partners will offer different and exciting activities. Here are some examples from Brain Awareness Week 2010:

Students from the Bridges Academy in Washington, D.C., huddle up while competing in the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Brain Derby, during Brain Awareness Week at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C. Students from the Nysmith School for the Gifted in Herndon, Va., work in teams to complete puzzles as part of a hands-on activity designed to demonstrate the effect of losing/changing communication abilities due to brain injury, at a station managed by the Army Speech Center clinics at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, during Brain Awareness Week at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C.

Partners in Education:

Who are Brain Awareness Week 2011 sponsors?

Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives
National Museum of Health and Medicine

Check out a recent poster presentation featuring BAW

Brain Awareness Week news archive:

Resources of Note:

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