We Got Brains on the Brain!

Happy Spring! Nowruz mobarak! The last few weeks have been quite eventful with Brain Week and an action-packed geometry unit in 5th grade math, and teacher birthdays galore! Thank you for a wonderful round of spring parent-teacher conferences as well!

Brain Week “Brain: An apparatus with which we think we think.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

3/3-3/10 our brains spent the week thinking about…themselves! Over the course of the week students learned about the different structures and functions of the brain, neuroplasticity, and the brain’s amazing capacity for resilience such as with the case of Phineas Gage. They tried their hand at brain teasers and optical illusions, and some even were able to find success with the craze of the 90s, Magic Eye! Teaching artist Helia partnered with Camera Obscura by MUZ to bring a U-Haul-sized camera to class and taught about how vision is processed in the brain. Thanks to the faculty in the Department of Foundational Biomedical Sciences at Touro University, which includes past Cerrito mom Rhea, we were able to bring disembodied brains back to campus for students to observe. They also brought bunch of activities that demonstrate how your brain and vision are impacted by conditions like concussions.

5th Grade Geometry 

Things are taking shape *ahem* in math with an investigation in geometry! There’ve been many whole-body opportunities to explore angles and shapes in the classroom. How many real-life opportunities for geometry can you count in your own lives? Check out the pictures below for a peek into the classroom.