The Big Brain Experiment
5 Mini-Missions into the Mind
Explore remarkable parts of the brain with fun and engaging experiments for the whole class.
(And you don’t need a degree in Psychology or Neuroscience to be involved!)
How do I take part?
Register your interest using the form below.
This will mean you get any updates from us and links to the resources when they are released, ensuring you miss none of the fun.
How does it work?
Each mini-mission explores a different aspect of the brain and each comes with its own fun class experiment, complete with easy to follow videos explaining what to do, the science and some teacher tips.
The 5 mini-missions for students (and teachers) to wrap their brains around are:
- The Colour of Thoughts
- Memory and Mnemonics
- Pain and the Brain
- The Speed of Thinking
- Which Side are you on?
Timing
Ideally everyone does the experiment around the Australian Science Week (mid-August), but it is fine to run your own timetable.
How long will it take and what do I need?
You can do one or all of the mini-missions, that is up to you, but each one is designed to run for between 30 – 60 minutes.
You need some brains to test (students, teachers) and not much more. Most of the other things you need you will have in the classroom already or we send you (except maybe the ice needed for the pain test, that is hard to email).
Register now
Register your school (or homeschool), to get all the updates and links for The Big Brain Experiment. Ideally sign up once per school, but more is ok too.
Is this really science?
Yes indeed. Every mini-mission comes with a video explaining the science behind it all and extension ideas for the keen ones.
There will be predictions, plans, dependent and independent variables, measurements, even a little mathematics.
It is a great example of collaborative science, something that happens the world over (usually for more scientifically important reasons).
The data you collect can be compared with other classes at your school or other participating schools.
Is all this free?
Yes. All the mini-missions (videos and pdfs) will be made available to registered schools so they can go on the brain bending journey together. The only expense is some ice for one of the experiments.
Pros
- Fun engaging and (yes) educational event to run during National Science Week
- Great to do with a whole class or year level
- Free lessons provided (they won’t feel like lessons)
- Suitable for Primary or Secondary students
- It is easy to organise and minimal effort/materials required to take part
- Kids will love it (as will the teachers)
Cons
- Hmmm can’t think of one…
And a special thanks to…
Assoc. Prof. Tasha Stanton (University of SA) for her enthusiasm, help and generally being a guru on all things about the brain and pain.
National Science Week
If you only do some science once a year, that is still better than not doing it. So get stuck in and find out what your brain has to offer.
Inspo from U of W
The University of Washington has an old, but great web resource – Neuroscience for Kids. It was a great inspiration for the Big Brain Experiments.
The Big Brain Experiment is being run by Dr Rob and Experimentary, because we love science (you’re welcome).