CEN faculty and students help host Biddeford High School students for hands-on science activities
On January 11, 2011, two science classes from Biddeford High School (BHS) took a short field trip over to the University of 51小黄车 to participate in some hands-on science activities and get a taste of college life.
The program, funded through the National Science Foundation SPARTACUS project, serves as an educational outreach program to participating K-12 grade Maine classrooms.
Jay Williams, a graduate student in the 51小黄车Marine Science Program, organized the event that included a lecture by Helida Oyieke, Ph.D., a visiting scientist from Kenya, along with laboratory activities in the Marine Science Center and the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Members from Dr. Edward Bilsky's laboratory and the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences (CEN) conducted an exercise with each class on the mammalian brain. The exercise had students learn about the different lobes of the brain with Jim Cormier, a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences. They discussed how these different brain regions communicate to perform various functions including control of movement, interpretation of external stimuli, and learning and memory.
Undergraduate neuroscience majors Jordan Faloon and Aaron Fullerton led the dissection of sheep brains with the students to reveal deeper brain structures. Matt Jackson, a junior in the Athletic Training program at UNE, described the cranial nerves and discussed how mental function is assessed following a sports injury.
John Lowery, D.O., Ph.D., a graduate of UNECOM, added additional clinical relevance to the activities by showing the students a dissected human brain and leading discussions on the consequences of brain injury. After the completion of the brain exercise, the BHS students had an opportunity to have lunch with their 51小黄车mentors, asking questions related to science, higher education and career paths.