Inquiry+Brain+Research+Adventures

BRAIN-BASED LEARNING ** The brain needs food and oxygen. They are provided primarily through the blood pumped straight to the brain. Even though the brain is only about 2 percent of the body’s weight, it consumes about 20 percent of the body’s energy. Good nutrition is essential for proper brain functioning. Brain foods include fish, eggs, leafy greens, wheat germ, chicken, fruits. The brain is approximately 80 percent water. Students become restless and have scattered attention when they are mildly dehydrated; slow and lethargic when severely dehydrated. Drinking plenty of water improves brain functioning (and overall health). Soft drinks, fruit juices, teas, and coffee do not hydrate nearly as well as pure water. Provide students with water bottles so they may hydrate without interrupting lessons. Environmental enrichment results in increased dendritic branching, more support cells, and even the growth of new neurons. This means we can actually build larger and heavier brains by enriching our classroom environment. Some important principles to enrich your classroom include:  Colors impact the mind and body.
 * Brain-Smart Practices for Teaching & Learning **
 * Feed the Brain **
 * Keep Them Hydrated **
 * Reduce Threat & Stress: ** perceived threat causes a narrowing of the perceptual field and downshifting. Students revert from higher-order cognitive functioning and creativity to survival fight or flight instincts.
 * Enhance Class Climate: ** create a safe, supportive, non-threatening environment to promote learning.
 * Foster Relaxed Alertness: ** Maximum learning and performing occurs in the state of “relaxed alertness.” This optimal state results from students feeling safe and secure, and motivated to learn.
 * ENRICH YOUR ENVIRONMENT **
 * ** Novelty ** - Keep learning and the classroom fresh and new. Students’ brains habituate to the same old stimuli and it loses it’s power.
 * ** Challenge ** - Provide challenging learning tasks and content.
 * ** Meaning ** - Make learning meaningful for students. Avoid isolated facts.
 * ** Redundant ** - Revisit the content repeatedly in fresh and interesting ways. Avoid repetitive drill which lacks meaning.
 * ** Feedback ** -Provide frequent and immediate feedback to keep students on target.
 * Color Your World! **
 * Blue: ** studying, thinking, concentration
 * Purple: ** tranquilizing, good for appetite control
 * Pink: ** restful, calming
 * White: ** disrupting
 * Red: ** creative thinking, short-term energy boosts
 * Green: ** productivity, long-term energy
 * Light Colors, Pastels: ** minimum disruption across all moods/activities
 * Yellow, Orange, Coral: ** physical work, exercising, positive moods