Your Magical Brain

How it works best

What you need:

A piece of paper

A pen or pencil

Your brain

What Does Your Brain Need Most?

1. Oxygen

2. Water

3. Food

1. Oxygen

We can provide oxygen for our brains by:Moving around (walking, stretching, exercising)

Taking deep rather than shallow breaths

Having good posture

Ways you can get oxygen to your brain in a classroom

setting:Deep breathing exercises, come on try it! In through the nose…

“Toe ups” to get your legs moving

Stand up, stretch out your

upper body

Finger/earlobe massage

Co-ordination exercises

Try this…

Put your left thumb up, and point your right index finger straight ahead. Now switch.

2. Water

The Brain is made of 80% water, which needs to be replenished regularly. Drink constant sips of water Room temperature water is better for

absorption

3. Food

The brain gets it’s energy from the food you eat. So give it PREMIUM fuel!

“Brain builder” foods include:Fresh green vegetables -bananas

Fishchicken

Blueberries

Eggs

Nuts

Stress is BAD!

Stress and threat reduce the capacity for understanding, meaning, and memory.

Stress reduces higher order thinking skills.

If you are stressed, you will not learn!

The Teenage Brain

Biological Changes in the Teenage Brain

The frontal lobes are going through a growth process

Reason and judgment are influenced because of changes in the brain

Some Brain facts:Put your fists together, that is approximately the size of your brain

The average brain weighs 3 pounds

There are over 100 billion neurons in your brain!

Brain exercise #1

1. Remember the following numbers

1 9 9 2 2 0 1 11

4 9 2 9 9 6 6 36

Testing time…

Try to write down the numbers in the order they appeared on the previous slide.

“chunking” them into smaller groups is a great strategy for this type of activity.

1992

2011

1492

9966

36

Brain exercise #2 Remember the items on this shopping list:

spoon

Eggs

Floor cleaner

Cottonballs

marshmallows

Cereal

Orange juice

Paper

Stamps

shoes

Testing time…

try to write down as many of the items on the list as you can.

Creating a “story” is a good strategy to remember a list of items.

You are carrying an egg on a spoon, slip on the floor because of the cleaner, land on a pile of cottonballs and marshmallows and fall asleep.

You wake up and eat cereal and OJ.

Lastly you write a letter on paper, put a stamp on it and walk in your new shoes to mail it off.

Your Magical Brain assignment:

Write a response to what you have been presented in this slideshow.

You should give me YOUR thoughts and opinions, don’t just repeat what you’ve been shown.

You may choose to discuss:Any questions you have about the info.Whether you agree or disagree with what you’ve been shownIf you recognize the benefits or drawbacks of the things discussed in yourself. How do you feel when you don’t have enough water, food, or sleep? How does stress affect the way you think?What methods/techniques you would be most likely to choose to improve your brain function

The End/Le Fin