NeuroPlay Adventures: Resources for Parents and Teachers
These lesson plans can be used in a variety of ways to support students ages 5-8 in learning about the brain.
Each lesson addresses numerous NextGen Science and Engineering Standards, Common Core Literacy Standards, as well as core competencies outlined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning.
Please use the "View Lesson" button to find lesson plans for your students.
The Brain
The brain is one of the largest and most complex organs in the human body. It is made up of more than 100 billion nerve cells that communicate in trillions of connections called synapses.
Cerebral Cortex
The Cerebral Cortex is the largest part of your brain. It does a lot of brain work, such as planning, decisions, and creativity. It's responsible for thinking and learning as well as the five senses. It covers much of the rest of the brain like a thinking cap.
Cerebellum
Located in the back of the brain, your Cerebellum is a busy switching station. It receives messages from most of the muscles and joints in your body, communicates with the other parts of the brain, and then sends messages about movement and balance back to your body. It's also very active in learned skills, such as riding a bike.
Hippocampus
The Hippocampus helps to store and process memories, and then helps to find them when you want to remember something. It can also affect emotions.
Amygdala
All people feel emotions. The Amygdala is a small almond-shaped structure in the brain involved in basic emotions like joy, fear, sadness, surprise, anger, and disgust. It’s important to learn how to manage your emotions and to recognize what emotions others are feeling.
Brainstem
The most ancient part of the brain, the Brainstem regulates things like heart rate, breathing, swallowing, digestion, blinking and more.
Every Body Has a Brain: Resources for Parents and Teachers
These lesson plans can be used in a variety of ways to support students ages 4-6 in learning about the brain.
Each lesson addresses numerous NAEYC Accreditation Criteria for Curriculum Standards, National Science Standards, and Headstart Indicators for Science and Language Development.
Please use the "View Lesson" button to find lesson plans for your students.
The Brain
The brain is one of the largest and most complex organs in the human body. It is made up of more than 100 billion nerve cells that communicate in trillions of connections called synapses.
My Brain at Work
In this activity, students play a guessing game during circle time. One student acts out a brain function and the teacher documents class members’ guesses about which function is being enacted. (This may be done in small groups.) After the activity, students will be able to describe some of the functions and responsibilities of the brain.
Ages 4-6
Ages 4-6
The Brain Has Different Parts
In this activity, the kids listen to the story of the characters from the game Every Body Has a Brain. They will then learn more about the brain parts that the characters represent and locate the brain parts on a diagram. When they have completed this activity, students will be able to describe some parts of the brain.
Ages 4-6
Ages 4-6
Cerebral Cortex
The Cerebral Cortex is the largest part of your brain. It does a lot of brain work, such as planning, decisions, and creativity. It's responsible for thinking and learning as well as the five senses. It covers much of the rest of the brain like a thinking cap.
Look What I Made!
In this activity, young children will explore how their Cerebral Cortex makes it possible to create ideas. They will discuss a new word: creativity. Children will then do a craft activity using scissors, paper and glue to create an imaginary object or being – whatever they choose. After doing the activity, students will be able to explain that their Cerebral Cortex plays a role in being creative.
Ages 4-6
Ages 4-6
Cerebellum
Located in the back of the brain, your Cerebellum is a busy switching station. It receives messages from most of the muscles and joints in your body, communicates with the other parts of the brain, and then sends messages about movement and balance back to your body. It's also very active in learned skills, such as riding a bike.
Hippocampus
The Hippocampus helps to store and process memories, and then helps to find them when you want to remember something. It can also affect emotions.
Shapes and Remembering
In this activity, students move around the class and use their memory to document what they saw. The teacher will emphasize that our Hippocampus helps us remember. After doing this activity, students will be able to explain that their Hippocampus helps them remember and learn.
Ages 4-6
Ages 4-6
Brainstem
The most ancient part of the brain, the Brainstem regulates things like heart rate, breathing, swallowing, digestion, blinking and more.
Neuromatrix: Resources for Parents and Teachers
These lesson plans can be used in a variety of ways to support students ages 9-15 in learning about the brain.
Each addresses numerous middle school science and language standards.
Please use the "View Lesson" button to find lesson plans for your students.
The Brain
The brain is one of the largest and most complex organs in the human body. It is made up of more than 100 billion nerves that communicate in trillions of connections called synapses.
Cerebral Cortex
The Cerebral Cortex is the largest part of your brain. It does a lot of brain work, such as planning, decisions, and creativity. It's responsible for thinking and learning as well as the five senses. It covers much of the rest of the brain like a thinking cap.
Introduction: Diagnostic Process
Students learn the elements of scientific inquiry by conducting a diagnostic process. They investigate how rogue Nanobots are causing problems in the brains of three teen scientists. They evaluate each scientist and determine which part of their brain is affected by the Nanobots, then fix the problem.
Cerebellum
Located in the back of the brain, your Cerebellum is a busy switching station. It receives messages from most of the muscles and joints in your body, communicates with the other parts of the brain, and then sends messages about movement and balance back to your body. It's also very active in learned skills, such as riding a bike.
Motor Cortex Olympics
The primary motor cortex is a region that controls the body’s movement. Specific areas of the motor cortex control specific parts of the body. Nanobots are scrambling signals between a teen scientist’s body and her brain. By unscrambling the signals, the student learns how the motor cortex functions.
Hippocampus
The Hippocampus helps to store and process memories, and then helps to find them when you want to remember something. It can also affect emotions.
Hippocampus: Sorting Station for Memories
The Hippocampus is necessary for learning and making new memories. A teen scientist is having memory problems due to Nanobots in his Hippocampus. In this activity, students sort parts of a memory like pieces in a puzzle and gain an understanding of the role of the Hippocampus in encoding memories.
Amygdala
All people feel emotions. The Amygdala is a small almond-shaped structure in the brain involved in basic emotions like joy, fear, sadness, surprise, anger, and disgust. It’s important to learn how to manage your emotions and to recognize what emotions others are feeling.
Amygdala: Perception of Emotions
The Amygdala mediates the strong emotions that teen students may feel. They sometimes have difficulty distinguishing between emotions, often confusing one emotion with another. In this activity, students learn how to distinguish between the six primary emotions and understand how one’s own emotions can change the perception of how others are feeling.