Hello everyone,

PIs, please forward this email to your trainees if they are not on the MNN mailing list.  These volunteering opportunities are intended for students and postdocs, but if you are out shopping with your family while the events are going on, I encourage you to drop by, check things out, and give your kids the chance to participate in the activities.

To our MNN trainees, this is your chance to share your love of neuroscience with kids of all ages!  We are looking for volunteers to help out with the outreach events that will be held March 14 and 21 during Brain Awareness Week. Read on to find out how you can take part!

At these events you will be working alongside other student volunteers from Let's Talk Science to lead a variety of neuroscience-themed activities.  There will be five different activities available:
1.  Brain hats - help the kids colour and assemble their own paper brain hat while explaining how different functions are localized to specific parts of the brain.
2.  Protect that brain! – a variation on the classic egg drop challenge, only here we’re pretending that the egg is the brain.  Help the kids use different materials to create a protective shell for their “brain” and then drop it to see if it works!  You can explain how the skull protects the brain, why it’s important to protect our brain from impact, and how concussions occur.

3.  Make your own neuron – for the neurobiologists!  Help the kids make neurons out of pipe cleaners – complete with soma, dendrites, and axon.  You can explain what these structures do and how neurons communicate with each other through synapses.

4.  Memory match game – this will be mainly for younger kids.  They will have to match pictures from a series of cards and you get to hand out candy when they get it right!  You can explain how memory works and how the brain helps us to remember things, learn new skills and improve those skills with practice.

5.  Play-Doh brains – help the kids to sculpt a brain out of Play-Doh using a model as a guide.  You can highlight the different lobes and other anatomical features of the CNS, and their functions.
There will also be colouring and activity pages at each station and you can help the kids with those as well.

Here's how to sign up:
1.  For the event at the Outlet Collection on March 14, follow this link:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zpCTtHpbmveNt8vE_Dc8t0vEU3pA0oADtU66bSZ0HJc/edit#gid=0
     For the event at Garden City on March 21, follow this link:  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HhoYtQSv3vHQyOLEzIH2iOHsuk0gslKM1dUeAcd8dco/edit#gid=0
2.  Choose your activity and time slot. The first two shifts are 2 hours long and the last shift of the day is 3 hours long. You may sign up for more than one shift and you can also participate in different activities on the same day.
3.  Enter your name in the corresponding blue slot(s) on the spreadsheet. These slots have been reserved for MNN volunteers.
4.  Immediately after you have signed up, please confirm your participation by emailing me at outreach@manitobaneuroscience.ca .  This will give me the contact information that I will need to communicate with you directly as we get closer to the event. Please include the dates, activities, and shifts that you have signed up for, whether you're from U of M or U of W, and your position (undergrad, grad, postdoc). For the latter two, please include the name of your supervisor as well.

This process is first come, first served, so sign up ASAP to reserve your spot.  If you see that your preferred activity or time has been taken, please DO NOT erase someone else's name or write your name in random places on the spreadsheet.  Send me an email and indicate your preferences and I will look into creating additional spots.  I cannot guarantee that everyone who is interested will be able to participate but I will do my best.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.  These events promise to be a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing you there!

Best wishes, Sari

Sari S. Hannila, PhD

Director of Outreach, Manitoba Neuroscience Network

Associate Professor, Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science
University of Manitoba