Abstract
The Colorado College (CC) Elementary School Outreach Program for Neuroscience Education was developed in 1993. It introduces Colorado Springs elementary school children (Grades 1-5) to basic neuroscience by providing them with hands-on experience with human and non-human brain tissue at the gross and microscopic level. The belief behind the program is that a well-rounded education at any level must include knowledge of how the brain works, and that this knowledge relates directly to how humans interact with each other as social beings. Twice a year, CC Neuroscience students visit local elementary schools in pairs to present a variety of interactive exercises for the children, including activities on comparative neuroanatomy (i.e., comparing the brains of different species), functional neuroscience (i.e., the functions of different lobes), and basic aspects of neuropharmacology (i.e., how drugs affect the brain). CC students also answer children's questions about the brain, often dispelling popular misconceptions. In addition to their neuroscience studies, CC students prepare for their presentations by studying the Society for Neuroscience's material on "How to talk to children in schools."
In the past two years, we have visited 32 elementary schools, 90 individual classrooms, and over 2,250 children. At the end of each visit, CC students hand out pamphlets from the Explorations in Neuroscience series (BrainLinkSM Materials, Houston, TX) so that the children have educational material to take home with them, thereby encouraging continued interaction with their parents. The program has received overwhelming community support, and provides a valuable "learning through teaching" experience for CC students. (Human brain tissue for this program is generously provided by Dr. D. Bowerman, El Paso County Coroner.)