March 13, 2007
CONTACT: Karen Kreeger
(215) 349-5658
karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu
Science-Fair
Switcheroo, Where Kids Judge the Science
150 third and fourth graders to decide award-winning science
projects
in Penn Kids Judge! Neuroscience Fair
| WHAT: | Over 150 third and fourth graders from the Penn Alexander School, the Henry C. Lea School, the Charles R. Drew School, and the Sterck/Delaware School for the Deaf will spend a morning on the Penn campus “judging” hands-on science activities developed by undergraduate students in Penn’s Biological Basis of Behavior program and graduate students in neuroscience. Highlights: Brainapalooza: Faculty and students let the judges see and handle all kinds of brains. Very hands-on, very yucky-cool. Food for Thought: Ever wonder how your stomach communicates with your brain so you know you’re hungry or full? Wonder no longer! Judges take this journey along the road between stomach and brain and see how it all works, and why. Left Brain/Right Brain: What? We use both sides of our brain for something as simple as tying our shoes? Watch as two students cooperate to tie a shoelace while each only uses one free hand. |
| WHEN: | Friday, March 16, 2007 Prime judging time: 9:00am- 11:00am |
| WHERE: | Biological Research Building Lobby [map] University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine 421 Curie Boulevard Philadelphia PA 19104 |
| WHO: | The Penn KidsJudge! Fair, a national education program designed to make scientists better communicators and elementary school children better scientists, is sponsored by Penn’s Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences and the Biological Basis of Behavior Program. The Fair is also made possible in part by grants from the National Kids Judge! Partnership, the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, and National Institute on Drug Abuse. |
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The Mahoney Institute of Neurological Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania is one of the world’s preeminent institutions for neuroscience research and training. Acting as the university’s intellectual fulcrum for the study of the brain, the Institute continues to fuel cross-disciplinary thinking and an integrated approach to fundamental, pre-clinical, and clinical research on the brain. With over 170 faculty from 18 departments and six schools at Penn, including Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering and Applied Science, Medicine, Nursing, and Veterinary Medicine, the Institute provides a fertile environment that is a template for programs at academic institutions around the world. More than 100 PhD candidates are currently enrolled in its renowned graduate program.
The Biological Basis of Behavior Program, within the School of Arts and Sciences, is a cross-campus undergraduate neuroscience education program. Created in 1978, the program is an interdisciplinary major in which students explore the relation between behavior (both human and animal) and its organic bases. It offers course in virtually all areas of neuroscience ranging from cellular neurobiology to cognitive neuropsychology and integrates the basic interdisciplinary courses with basic science requirements in biology, chemistry, and psychology. The program successfully integrates interdisciplinary teaching and research in neuroscience through the cooperative interactions of faculty and staff in several departments in the School of Arts and Sciences and Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine as well as the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. It is one of the largest and most popular undergraduate majors at Penn.
PENN Medicine is a $2.9 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and high-quality patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.
Penn's School of Medicine is ranked #2 in the nation for receipt of NIH research funds; and ranked #3 in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's most recent ranking of top research-oriented medical schools. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals, all of which have received numerous national patient-care honors [Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center]; a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.
This release is available online at
http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/mar07/kids-judge-science-fair.html