Ceilidh on the Brain

This week we were very lucky to take part in a workshop called ‘Ceilidh on the Brain’ as part of the Science Festival.  We learned all about our brains and how they work and how music and playing instruments can help our brains to grow.

First of all we learned about sound and how instruments can make sound.  Some of us made  a ‘slinky orchestra’ which was great fun and had a very ‘Star Wars’ feel about it!  Helen, who played the flute, talked to us about how our voices make sound too and also about how we hear sound too.

Lewis then talked to us about how our brains actually worked.  He had a really colourful model of a brain to show us – although our real brains aren’t as colourful!  It was really interesting to hear what each part of the brain does.  We also got to feel how heavy our brains are – 1.5kg! No wonder we’re tired at the end of the day!

We made up some dances to show how we hear and how we see and Lewis and Helen played music for us to dance to.  Finally Lewis showed us a scan of his brain and a special 3D model he had made of it!  We thought it was really cool!