WESTERN HILLS SIXTH GRADERS SET TO DISCOVER YOUR BRAIN

AT UNO MARCH 15, 2005

OMAHA - The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will mark National Brain Awareness Week by hosting 60 Western Hills Elementary School sixth graders for a morning of neuroscience demonstrations and tours, Monday, March 15. Andrea Zardetto-Smith, a UNO neuroscience professor, organized the Discover YOUR Brain event.

"This will be a great morning of fun and learning for the students," Zardetto-Smith said. "There will be a lot of hands-on brain activities, and the UNO students and faculty involved with this are looking forward to it." Zardetto-Smith is also the principal investigator for the Brains Rule! Neuroscience Exposition Project, an innovative educational approach that makes teaching neuroscience accessible to children.

Funding for Brains Rule! comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. While on campus, the students will tour research and biology labs, visit the aviary, and spend time learning the structure and function of different parts of the brain and nervous system. The focus of the morning will be to introduce the students to the unique aspects of the teenage brain and why it is particularly susceptible to the consequences of unhealthy choices, such as using drugs of abuse. The students plan to arrive at 9:30 a.m. The faculty and university students taking part in Discover YOUR Brain will be doing this during UNO’s spring break.