NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS NEWSLETTER
Volume 18, Issue 3 (March, 2014)

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Welcome to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter.

In this issue:

1. What's New at Neuroscience for Kids
2. Neuroscience for Kids Site of the Month
3. Neuroscience for Kids Writing Contest - Results
4. Brain Awareness Week
5 Bloomin' Brains Summer Camp
6. Summer Workshop for Teachers
7. Free Brain Health Fair in Philadelphia
8. Media Alert
9. Treasure Trove of Brain Trivia
10. Support Neuroscience for Kids
11. How to Stop Your Subscription
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1. WHAT'S NEW AT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

Neuroscience for Kids had several new additions in February including:

A. February Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter was archived
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/news182.html

B. PDF version of this newsletter (March, 2014)
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/pdf/news183.pdf

In February, 2 new figures were added and 12 pages were modified.
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2. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS "SITE OF THE MONTH"

The Neuroscience for Kids "Site of the Month" for March is the "Science Update. Spotlight: The Brain" at:

Science Update is a collection of 60-second stories about new discoveries in science, technology and medicine. Each story is broadcast on the radio and available online via a podcast. The "Spotlight: The Brain" section of the web site covers some interesting research about neuroscience including recent stories about a computer game that is helping scientists map the brain, multiple sclerosis, and amnesia.

If you are interested in other topics, just click on the "HOME" or "ARCHIVES" buttons to explore the wide world of science.
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3. NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS WRITING CONTEST - RESULTS

The 2014 NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS POETRY WRITING CONTEST is now closed and all winners have been sent their prizes. A total of 361 poems were entered from 27 states and 7 countries (USA, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Croatia, Japan, India). Thanks to everyone who participated. Here are some, not all, of the winning poems:

Grade Kindergarten to Grade 2 (any style poem); by Israella C.:
Three pound of wrinkle,
Crammed in your skull.
One hundred billion neurons,
Science is never dull!
Memories, smells, ideas and pain
All come from your super, special brain!

Grade 3 to Grade 5 (poem must rhyme); by Addison M.:
My occipital lobe helps me to see,
the newly made milkshake made just for me.
My temporal lobe will help me to detect,
the sweet smell of strawberries and their effect.
My temporal lobe also helps me to hear,
the sounds of "slurp, slurp, slurp" in my ear.
My parietal lobe is saying "yum, yum, yum,"
But slow down a brain freeze will come.
My frontal lobe solves one last problem,
how to get the cherry off the bottom.

Grade 6 to Grade 8 (haiku); by Cooper L.:
My brain injury
Lost distracted confused sad
Life's puzzle won't fit.

Grade 9 to Grade 12 (limerick); by Alexander L.:
An artist had hemispatial neglect
It was quite the inconvenient defect
His painting wasn't quite right
The right side was just pure white
Oh well, at least the left half was perfect.

Adult (any style); by Baishali R.:
Flow of current like a spark
Action potential, like light through dark
Passing through the nerves
Making all the verves;
All our sensation
By this conversation;
Dancing ions' brilliance
The core of our existence.

All of the winning poems are published on the Neuroscience for Kids web site at:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/contest14.html

In November, Neuroscience for Kids will start its drawing contest.
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4. BRAIN AWARENESS WEEK

Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is this month! I hope you will participate at your own school or in your neighborhood. For more information about BAW, visit the Dana Alliance and Society for Neuroscience web sites at:

http://www.dana.org/brainweek/

and

http://www.sfn.org/BAW/

Show your BRAINY spirit for BAW:

http://www.neuro4kids.com
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5. BLOOMIN' BRAINS SUMMER CAMP

Are you a middle school student interested in a summer "deep dive" into neuroscience and botany? Do you know a middle school student who is? If so, then the Sowing the Seeds of Neuroscience free summer day camp is for you. This camp is part of my Sowing the Seeds of Neuroscience grant from the National Institutes of Health.

The 2014 "Bloomin' Brains" neuroscience summer day camp will be held on the University of Washington campus July 21-24 from 9 am to 3 pm each day, and supervised by teachers, graduate students, undergraduates and UW faculty. Parents are responsible for providing transportation to and from campus and for providing sack lunches. Campers will have the opportunity to:

- Conduct hands-on science experiments

- Learn about traditional uses of medicinal plants in Native cultures

- Explore the structure and function of the brain

- Visit the Burke Museum, UW Botany Greenhouse, and Medicinal Herb Garden

- Listen to real scientists talk about their careers

- Discover "the art of the brain" by constructing models

- Make a plant extract and tie-dye a shirt

- Research neuroscience at the UW computer lab

For more information about the camp and the application form, please visit:

http://www.neuroseeds.org/home/2014-bloomin-brains-summer-camp

Discover how much fun science can be!
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6. SUMMER WORKSHOP FOR TEACHERS

You can call it a summer camp for teachers! Here at the University of Washington, we will hold a workshop for teachers August 4-8, 2014. During the workshop, teachers will work through the Sowing the Seeds of Neuroscience curriculum. Teachers who complete the workshop will be able to check out Neuroseeds kits for use in their classrooms during the school year. For more information and workshop registration, see:

http://www.neuroseeds.org/home/2014-teacher-workshop
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7. FREE BRAIN HEALTH FAIR IN PHILADELPHIA

The American Brain Foundation is sponsoring a free brain health fair during the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Philadelphia, PA, on Saturday, April 26, 10 am-4 pm at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The family event connects patients, families, and caregivers affected by a neurologic disorder with important resources to win the battle against brain diseases. The fair offers free classes about research advances in Alzheimer's disease, autism, brain injury, epilepsy, headache, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, stroke and other types of brain disease, and fun activities for kids and teenagers.

Registration is now open:

http://www.americanbrainfoundation.org/go/brainhealthfair
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8. MEDIA ALERT

A. "Nicotine, the Wonder Drug" by Dan Hurley (DISCOVER magazine, March, 2014).

B. "The New Century of the Brain" by Rafael Yuste and George M. Church is the cover story in SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN (March, 2014).

C. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN MIND (March, 2014) has articles about creativity, fear and ADHD.

D. If you will be in Milan, Italy, stop by the brain exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in Milan:

http://www.mostrabrain.it/home/

E. Celebrate Brain Awareness Week in London (Dalston Bunker; March 13-15) at the "Brain Banquet" where you can learn about your senses and the way the brain process information about food. (Warning: tickets are expensive and the event is for people 18 years and older only.) See:

http://guerillascience.co.uk/
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9. THE TREASURE TROVE OF BRAIN TRIVIA

A. National Football League players were diagnosed with 189 concussions during the 2012 regular season. (Source: The Scientist, February, 2014, page 14.)

B. "Umami" is the name of a basic taste when foods with glutamate are eaten and it is also the name of a Minneapolis based electro/psych band.

C. The remipede, a small aquatic animal, is the only known crustacean that uses a neurotoxin. (von Reumont, B.M., et al., The first venomous crustacean revealed by transcriptomics and functional morphology: remipede venom glands express a unique toxin cocktail contaminated by enzymes and a neurotoxin. Mol Biol Evol. 2013 Nov 7.)

D. Neuroscientist Nobel Prize winner birthdays in the month of March are Julius Wagner-Jauregg (March 7, 1857), Walter Rudolph Hess (March 17, 1881), Daniel Bovet (March 23, 1907), Bernard Katz (March 26, 1911), John Robert Vane (March 29, 1927), and Erwin Neher (March 20, 1944).

E. The Thai word for brain is "samong."
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10. SUPPORT NEUROSCIENCE FOR KIDS

To ensure that Neuroscience for Kids stays available, we need your help. All contributions to Neuroscience for Kids are tax deductible (subject to IRS regulations). If you would like to donate to Neuroscience for Kids, please visit:

Help Neuroscience for Kids
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11. HOW TO STOP RECEIVING THIS NEWSLETTER

To remove yourself from this mailing list and stop your subscription to the Neuroscience for Kids Newsletter, send e-mail to Dr. Eric H. Chudler at: chudler@u.washington.edu
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Your comments and suggestions about this newsletter and the "Neuroscience for Kids" web site are always welcome. If there are any special topics that you would like to see on the web site, just let me know.

Eric

Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D.
(e-mail: chudler@u.washington.edu)
(URL: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/neurok.html)