Brain Fair

For the brain fair, Chelsey, Erica, and I decided to research the effects of drugs on the brain. As we were researching, we realized there was so much information that we couldn't possibly include everything so we started to narrow it down. We decided to focus on four different drugs: Marijuana, Ecstasy, Cocaine, and Meth. (I learned how to spell ecstasy and realized I've been spelling it wrong my whole life. I had no idea there was no X in ecstasy). It was really interesting learning about the different effects on the brain.

As we were researching, I realized how important and helpful the internet is in doing research. We were able to quickly find information on how drugs effect the brain. We didn't have to spend hours reading through books and encyclopedias in the library to do our research. With technology and the internet we are able to get the most current information simply by typing in a few key words. We found a website where you can interact with cartoon mice that are on different types of drugs. You click on the mouse and it drops it into a machine where you can look at it's brain and see what exactly the drug is doing inside his brain. I found that learning this way is so much more interesting than just reading the information. I think that students would find learning about hard subjects in an interactive way more helpful to remember and understand the information. They are able to see the information, hear it, and interact with it, creating different pathways in the brain to remember the information.