Be Brain Smart

Does animal brain size match body size? Affect intelligence? Sculpt the brains of three vertebrates to compare and contrast their structure and size.

• 1.

  Your brain controls every movement and thought you have. Your brain is always working, whether you’re asleep or awake!

• 2.

  Find facts about the brains of humans and two other vertebrates. You’ll find that all brains have two hemispheres, distinct structures, and are attached to a spinal cord. Among the differences you may find are that size and cortical folding varies among species.

• 3.

  Do you think brain size is linked to animal size or intelligence? Discuss this with your classmates, who may have researched other animals. Make a chart of the similarities and differences you discovered using Crayola® Multicultural Markers.

• 4.

  Mix white Model Magic with color from Washable Multicultural Markers. Sculpt three different vertebrate brains.

• 5.

  Sculpt all three brains to scale and to show details. Air-dry them at least 24 hours.

• 6.

  Add more color to highlight the folds in your brain models.

• 7.

  Label each brain with details such as the name of the animal, typical brain size/weight and adult animal weight, and the relative intelligence of each creature.

Benefits

• Children research details about the brains of three different vertebrates.
• Children compare and contrast brain sizes of different vertebrates and discuss the link between brain size, intelligence, and animal size.
• Children sculpt and label three realistic scale models of different brains.

Adaptations

• Display all of the brain models. Compare and contrast the different brains. Arrange them from most to least intellegent animal.
• Diagram cut-away view of a human brain. Label each part and explain what that part of the brain does.