Neuroscience For Kids

2018 Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest

The 2018 Poetry Contest is over, but you can read about the 2019 Drawing Contest.

Judging of the 2018 Neuroscience for Kids Poetry Contest has been completed and winners have been selected. A total of 361 poems from 23 states and 5 countries were received this year.

Here are the winning poems:

Level: Kindergarten- Grade 2 (Poem, any style)
Author: Isha D.
"What makes you so important?" mind asked brain one day
Brain answered, "It is my work all day"
I make you happy and sad
I make you think good and bad
I make you smell
I make you tell
I make you feel the touch
I make you hear as such
I control everything in the body
I work all day happily!

Level: Grade 3-5 (Poem must rhyme)
Author: Elena F.
The brain is a web so sensitive and meek
Though it has so much knowledge to find and seek
The brain is a car it needs its fuel
8 hours of sleep it's the number one rule
Coffee, Tea! Why certainly not
The caffeine will just tie your receptors in a knot
Temporal, Occipital, Parietal, and Frontal
All of those lobes mold into a bundle
Touch, hearing, taste, smell, and sight
Each lobe lights them all up like a light

Level: Grade 6-8 (Poem must be haiku)
Author: Madhalasa I.
Gyrus and Sulci
with their bumps and grooves create
four lobes and more space

Level: Grade 9-12 (Poem must be a limerick.)
Author: Rachel R.
My brain determines each of my actions
It's often swayed by many attractions
Every move I make
Every step I take
Sets off a compulsive chain reaction

Level: Adults (Poem must rhyme)
Author: Natalie S.-J.
You are your brain, your brain is you, there are endless things your brain can do!
This big blob of matter allows you to think, 100 billion neurons fire fast than a blink.
It processes sights, it processes smells, it distinguishes the sound of drums from bells.
It allows you to taste, it allows you to touch, what else can it do? Oh, so much!
It gives you the power to think, move, and sense, though all of this comes at an ATP expense.
Made mainly of water and a whole lot of fat, it's out most complex organ, how amazing is that!
The language of the brain is the action potential, seemingly simple but so very essential.
The brain is quite amazing you see, but so much of the brain is a mystery.
So I study the brain and you should too, because these discoveries are up to you!

Here were the contest rules:

Only one entry per person. Please type or print your poems so we can read them.
Use the official entry form (copies of the form are acceptable) to write a poem about the nervous system in the style for your age group.
All poems, limericks and haiku must have at least THREE lines and CANNOT be longer than TEN lines. Material that is shorter than three lines or longer than ten lines will not be read.
All material must have a neuroscience theme such as brain anatomy (a part of the brain), brain function (memory, language, emotions, movement, the senses, etc.), drug abuse or brain health (helmets, brain disorders, etc.). Be creative! Use your brain!
Entries will be divided into five age groups:

If you are in Kindergarten to Grade 2, your poem can be in any style; it doesn't even have to rhyme. The poem must have at least three lines, but cannot be longer than 10 lines.

If you are in Grade 3 to Grade 5, your poem must rhyme. You can rhyme the last words on lines one and two; the last words on lines three and four, etc. or you can choose your own pattern. The poem must have at least three lines, but cannot be longer than 10 lines.

If you are in Grade 6 to Grade 8, your poem must be in the form of a haiku. A haiku has only THREE lines. Also, haiku MUST use the following pattern: 5 syllables in the first line; 7 syllables in the second line; 5 syllables in the third line.

Example Haiku:
Three pounds of jelly
wobbling around in my skull
and it can do math.

If you are in Grade 9 to Grade 12, your poem must be in the form of a limerick. A limerick has 5 lines; lines one, two and five rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables; lines three and four rhyme with each other and have the same number of syllables.

Example Limerick
The brain is important, that's true,
For all things a person will do,
From reading to writing,
To skiing to biting,
It makes up the person who's you.

If you are a college student, teacher, parent or someone else, your poem must rhyme and explain why it is important to learn about the brain. (Enter: "College and above" for Grade on the entry form.)

To enter the contest, mail your completed entry form with your poem to:

Dr. Eric H. Chudler
Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering
1414 NE 42nd Street; Box 37
Seattle, WA 98105-6271
USA

Entries must be received by February 1, 2018 and cannot be returned.
People and their families associated with the Neuroscience for Kids web site are not eligible to enter the contest. Kids from ALL countries are welcome to participate.
The staff of Neuroscience for Kids and other individuals will judge poems on the basis of originality, scientific accuracy and overall style.
At least one winner from each group will be selected. Winners will be announced by March 1, 2018 and will be notified by e-mail or regular mail. The winner agrees to allow Neuroscience for Kids to publish his/her name (first name and last initial only) and poem on the Neuroscience for Kids web site. Winner addresses and e-mail addresses will NOT be published.
All materials received will become the property of Neuroscience for Kids and will not be returned. Neuroscience for Kids will not be responsible for entries that are damaged or lost in the mail.
Winners will be awarded a book or other prize to be determined later. Prizes will be mailed to the address listed on the winner's entry form.
Void where prohibited by law. Questions about this contest should be directed to Dr. Chudler at: chudler@u.washington.edu