Engage in a flying tour of the brain with Professor Judith Pratt to learn more about how brain cells communicate and operate in networks to enable us to think, remember, move and experience emotions. Gain some insight into how brain activity can be changed in those living with some brain conditions such as Parkinson’s disease.
This tour of the brain will begin with an outline of how brain cells (neurones) function and communicate with each other through electrical and chemical messengers (neurotransmitters). It will then be explained how neurones operate in networks of different brain regions and how distinct networks are important in memory, movement, experiences and emotions. This tour will highlight the importance of technologies for measuring brain activity to understand how brain function is changed in those living with a mental health condition, a brain disorder such as Parkinson’s disease, or by drugs.
Professor Judith Pratt – University of Strathclyde
Judith Pratt is a Research Professor at the University of Strathclyde, specialising in Neuroscience and Pharmacology. Judith’s research team focus on understanding the biology of factors that increase the risk of developing mental health conditions and how this can inform new therapies. Judith is a mental health research ambassador for the charity MQ and engages in a diverse range of public communication activities.
Why do we need a brain? How do our brains work? And can we use technology to control our brains? Learn some fun facts about the brain, what we use our brains for, how brain cells communicate and process information and how the brain acts like a big network. See how technologies are enabling us to study and treat brain disorders and how we can learn to control brain activity.
Professor Judith Pratt – University of Strathclyde
Judith Pratt is a Research Professor at the University of Strathclyde, specialising in Neuroscience and Pharmacology. Judith’s research team focus on understanding the biology of factors that increase the risk of developing mental health conditions and how this can inform new therapies. Judith is a mental health research ambassador for the charity MQ and engages in a diverse range of public communication activities.
Harriet from Glasgow Science Centre will take you on a tour of your lungs in this session. Traveling down the trachea into the lobes of the lungs we will discover some of the amazing properties our lungs have and discuss how they work. Do you have any questions? Harriet will be on hand answering your questions throughout this breath-taking session.
This dissection will use sheep lungs which are a by-product of the meat industry.
Discover some little-known skeleton facts and find out some of the ways which damaged or diseased bones and joints are treated. See what a real hip, shoulder, knee and elbow looks like and how they are attached to a human skeleton.
Henry Rae – University of St Andrews
Henry Rae joined the University of St Andrews in 1993 and runs a teaching lab delivering practical classes on Physiology, Pharmacology and Histology. He enjoys public engagement activities and delivers sessions to schools, science centres, prisons and various other organisations. He is an Archaeological Leader for the Young Archaeologist Club and is also the Medical Director of Heart Start in St Andrews.
This video looks at what happens when there is disruption in the brain’s communication network, causing a seizure. Find out about the different types of seizures and how to help when someone with epilepsy has a seizure.
More to try: Expore the different regions of the brian and what they do with powerpoint slides from Epilepsy Connections.
Find out about epilepsy, a common neurological condition, and what causes seizures in the brain. In this short video from Epilepsy Connections, you can also learn about ways to help when seizures happen to someone near you. More to try – can you find the 12 hidden words in the wordsearch?
With thanks to Professor Sanjay Sisodiya (Epilepsy Climate Change and Director of Genomics, Epilepsy Society) who has sought, and received consent, to use this article as an educational resource.
The human ear is a fascinating biological machine! This learning resource from Siemens helps us to understand how the human ear works, and responds to sounds of different intensities and frequencies. By the end of this workbook participants will have designed their own hearing aid, showing how it allows for a range of different design requirements.
All day, every day, your lungs work, often without you thinking about it. On this page, The British Lung Foundation explain what your lungs are made of, how they work and the muscles you use to breathe. How often you breathe in and out every minute depends on your age and what you’re doing. If you’re resting, an adult will breathe around 12-20 times a minute – that adds up to around 17,000 – 30,000 times a day! The amount of air that moves in and out of your lungs can vary from just a few litres a minute when you’re resting, to over 100 litres a minute if you’re exercising vigorously.
The lungs absorb oxygen from the air you breathe in and transfer it into your bloodstream so that it can get to every part of your body. As the cells in your body work, they produce a waste gas called carbon dioxide that is released into the bloodstream. Your lungs get rid of this waste gas when you breathe out.
Asthma affects millions of people worldwide. But how does it actually effect us, and what is going inside our body when it happens? This video from Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Partnership helps to explain the science behind asthma.
The human body is amazing. It can move, grow, detect what’s going on around us and even mend itself (usually). It gets what it needs from the food we eat and gets rid of what it can’t use. What’s more, it can reproduce.
This interactive game lets you take a peep at some of the systems within the human body. The images you will see are produced by some of the most advanced technology in the world made by Siemens which enables us to see and understand how the body works.
This learning resource from Siemens helps us to understand the functions of the human skeleton. By the end of this activity participants will be able to explain various features of the skeleton, and relate images of bones, muscles, joints to diagrams of the human body.
Take a journey following the passage of food through the human digestive system. Explore how the food we eat travels through our body and learn the importance of a healthy diet and the functions of our major organs – sticky, fun and educational!
Watch a this NERC funded animation about pollution and the citizen science project BiB Breathes, where children in Bradford have the opportunity to measure how much air pollution they’re exposed to on their way to and from school.
The word ‘Homunculus’ translates from the Latin as ‘little man’, but has always referred to our ‘inner human’. The emotional homunculus is the part of the brain that makes us uniquely human. Over time, the Emotional Homunculus uses emotions – good or bad, pleasure or pain, risk or reward – to build up a template for how we behave. It’s kind of like a vinyl record that has grooves scratched into it over our lifetime. So how does it do this?
Well, inside your head are many powerful chemicals (for example, Dopamine and Adrenaline all working together to create different emotional states). If you’ve ever wondered why some days you can’t get out of bed and on others you’re so excited you can’t sleep, that’s your ‘Brain’s Amazing Drugs Cabinet’– the part of your brain that determines how we see, act and react to the world around us based on our emotions and the ways we’ve learned to react to things in the past.
Cyrenians Scottish Centre for the Conflict Resolution’s video provides an introduction to the Emotional Homunculus. It features Dr Sara Watkins who explains what an Emotional Homunculus and the Brain’s Amazing Drug Cabinet are.
If you are keen to learn more, The Resource Hub on the Scottish Centre for Conflict Resolution website is full of fantastic resources which help us understand what is happening in our brain and body when we are faced with different life situations and emotions.
Your eyes allow you to experience the world around you – not just see things…but to experience colour. But how? The cells at the back of your eyes, the cones, give you colour vision. Using a smartphone with a RGB Bayer filter, you can learn more about how a full range of colours can be perceived by the human eye.
William Shakespeare said “The eyes are the window to your soul”. Your eyes allow you to appreciate our world: to read books, watch sunsets over the ocean, gaze lovingly into the eyes of another. But what lies within? What are these complex structures made of? This video will show you exactly what the mammalian eye is made of – the sum of these (not-so-pretty) parts equals “vision”. Prepare to have your mind blown!
By playing this Multiple Object Tracking test, you are improving your proficiency in vital skills for innovation. Good critical thinking relies on attention to detail and the ability to filter out unnecessary information so you can concentrate on what is important.
Visit us! Find more innovator training games in our Idea No59 Exhibition on Floor 2 of Glasgow Science Centre.
Please note: This game will only work on larger device screen sizes.
This activity combines a fun craft activity with hand anatomy. The anatomy covered is the bones (phalanges and metacarpals) and the tendons, by building the articulated hand from cardboard, string and straws visitors will gain a better understanding of how the hand functionally works.
Discover what makes up our blood, and build your own pumping heart model to understand more about how this important organ works. This video explores the components of blood using household items like marshmallows to represent white blood cells. No gore to be found!
What is the microbiome? Kurzgesagt tells us about the friendly bacteria that live in our gut and what they do.
How our immune system is like an army defending our body. We will also see the connection between the brain and gut microbes. The microbes ‘telling’ our brain what food we should get them. Eat healthy, the gut breeds healthy bacteria that like healthy food. Eat unhealthy bacteria craves unhealthy food.
How we can become trapped in a vicious cycle and become obese. Discuss different studies of trying to harness the power of microbiome i.e transferring healthy bacteria to an unhealthy host.
Join Claire for this heart dissection as she talks us through the main structures and functions of the heart and how blood flows between the lungs, heart, and body to sustain life. Teachers can use the external Red Blood Cell Relay resource mentioned in the video!
*Warning – this video contains footage of live sheep heart dissection*
Sometimes the way we perceive what we see isn’t always accurate! So how easy is it to trick our minds? Check out some examples of how we can bend our perception in this video! Can you figure out what’s going on?
Can you tie your shoelaces without looking at your feet? Have you heard of the sense of proprioception? Proprioception is how your body knows which position it is in and how it is moving.
Celine is here with some simple exercises to test how your brain works out what you are doing with your arms and legs. Aimed at over 5s, but fun for all to try.
What makes chillies so hot? Why do we still enjoy spicy things? Learn about tastes in this taste-a-long edition of GSC At Home!
Your tongue can taste five flavours, sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. Your tongue is covered in receptors called tastebuds that send messages to your brain about what different foods taste like.
Make sure you have an adult helping you with this to make sure that you are not allergic to any of the foods we’re trying – to join in what we’re using is honey or jam, marmite or another yeast extract, a mild mustard, a chilli sauce, ready salted crisps, lemon juice and lemon rind. It’s also a good idea to have a glass of water ready for when you’re ready for a new flavour.
We eat and drink every day – but have you ever stopped to wonder about how we digest what we consume?
Take a look at the fascinating journey makes as it goes through our body. From the very top, to the very bottom – literally! Jennifer takes us through what happens as we eat and digest food and shows us how to make a model stomach with all the foods you eat in a day.
This video is suitable for the whole family. Please make sure to have adult permission and supervision when attempting any experiments.
Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to be in space? There are astronauts on board the International Space Station right now, living and working in space. GSC’s Planetarium team explores what happens to the human body when in space and what is life like orbiting planet Earth. This video was made by Glasgow Science Centre to support Destination Space.
Join us as we conduct two experiments about our sense of touch! Can you tell what something is just by feeling it? How can our hands be hot and cold at the same time?
To follow along at home you will need a cardboard box, scissors, random objects from around the house (like a banana, sock, and spoon), blindfold (optional), 3 containers large enough to fit your hand in, tap water, towel, watch, and ice cubes (optional).
