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Wake Forest Medical Students Teach Brain Science at Meadowlark Middle
October 6, 2022 – Medical Students at Wake Forest University literally had Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools on the brain on Thursday when they led a unit on brain awareness at Meadowlark Middle School.
Students spent about 20 minutes at a time at a variety of stations covering different aspects of neurology. They got to work hands on with actual human and animal brains as they studied the different parts and functions of the brain, different neural structures in different species, the anatomy of a neuron, and the organ’s remarkable ability to adapt to different stimuli. The brain is an incredibly complex body part that can’t be fully explored in one day, but even scratching the surface was a fascinating experience.
“It teaches them about how much there is to the brain, how adaptable it is, and how much it does to help us survive,” Neurology Student Jill Nofziger said.
The Brain Awareness unit was an effective strategy to bring science to life for the eighth graders. They learned a lot of specialized information about how their own minds work, and getting to work hands-on with real brains was intriguing, even if it did take a bit of getting used to at the beginning of the day. As aspiring neurologists themselves, the college students were happy to offer the kind of special school experience that they would have benefitted from when they were in middle school.
“We never had the chance to do something like this when we were their age,” Neurology Student Riley Irmen said. “I think it’s an eye-opening experience for a lot of kids.”
Neurology is a deep, rewarding, and ever-growing field of study with plenty of opportunities for students to make fascinating new discoveries. Eighth graders at Meadowlark have plenty of time to decide what they would like to do for a career, but thanks to the Brain Awareness unit, they got an interesting new option to consider that may enhance their experience with science classes in the future. If one of them goes on to become a neurologist because of what they learned today, the current neurology students would consider it a huge victory.
“I’ve given our business cards just in case somebody has questions they need to ask,” said Neurology Student Bethany Pierce. “I would love it if they decide that they want to know more.”