Brainiacs
Gray matters: spectrUM brings brain exhibit to Polson
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POLSON — “It smells like a new tent,” student Isaac Janeway observed.
Janeway and his classmates watched University of Montana doctoral student Katie Hoffman don gloves and prepare to dissect a sheep’s brain.
The kids in Mrs. Perry’s fourth grade class were taking their turn attending “The Brain: A World Inside Your Head” exhibition by the University of Montana’s spectrUM.
Maria Hamm, Jess Matthiae and Juan Palacios joined Hoffman in presenting the program.
They began by identifying parts of the brain — cerebellum, parietal, frontal, occipital and temporal — and basic functions of each area using a giant brightly colored plastic brain.
During question time, one young man asked if brain waves could be used for mind reading and another youngster asked where fear was located in a brain.
Then it was on to dissection. Although the students didn’t dissect an actual brain, they watched and were allowed to glove up and feel the brain causing comments like, “It’s squishy.”
Next up some of the kids sat on the floor in lines approximating a spine and arms and legs. One student was the brain, and he jumped on a switch attached to the bell, sort of like a strongman in the circus. Guided through stimulae such as tickling, an injection, an involuntary reflex and even paralysis, the students learned how the brain reacts.
Other interactive exhibits included:
• a basketball shoot with goggles limiting and changing vision to show how brains adapt
• an EEG measurement station showing brain waves
• an activity where students could move a ping pong ball using brain waves
Students from Cherry Valley and Linderman Schools participated in guided field trips to the brain exhibit May 17 to 20. The public was invited to Linderman to check out the brain on May 17 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
“We travel hands-on science around the state, transforming gymnasiums and cafeterias into powerful science learning centers that help inspire Montana’s next generation of scientists, health care providers, engineers and visionaries, ” spectrUM Director Holly Truitt writes on their website.
SpectrUM’s visit to Polson was sponsored by the Polson Elementary Parent Teacher Organization, the Polson Indian Education Parent Committee and the UM Center for Structural and Functional Neuroscience. Neuroscientists and staff from CSFN collaborated with spectrUM on the design and development of the popular exhibition according to the website at http://www.spectrum.umt.edu
