Thomas O. Merritt
A Multiple Intelligence Approach to the Physiology of the Brain and How We Learn as Middle School Students
To begin my unit starting in September with the classroom curriculum "A Multiple Intelligence Approach to the Physiology of the Brain and How We Learn as Middle School Students," I will review a bit of our human sexuality unit. This review specifically includes discussion of the sexual glands that link to the functioning of the brain as well as the different toxins that pollute our minds and bodies. This will be linked to the past year study of how drugs affect the brain and how malnutrition can affect the body during a teenager's growth and development. I will continue to teach a lesson on how the brain is also effected by any consumed drugs and in what ways these drugs can affect an unborn child or their future as a parent. Information on drugs and the affect they have on the human body can be found in the New Haven School teachers Human Sexuality guide adopted by the New Haven Board of Education for teaching middle schoolers about human sexuality.
There will be an opportunity to dissect a cow brain and learn about the different parts of the brain, the functions of it and how it manages growth and development14. This shows the dissection of the different parts of the brain and where you find them. Students will be dissecting the brain into five different areas parietal lobe, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, cerebellum and occipital lobe. The frontal lobe controls attention it is linked directly to concentration. The temporal lobe would be directly linked to joy, awe, or happiness. The cerebellum links the rest of the brain to the functioning of the human body like blinking your eyes or breathing which we do automatically. The juncture between the Parietal lobe and the temporal lobe controls the use of language. The children will then create a "brain board game" concerning the negative affects drugs have on the brain. They will then play the games with each other for one class period, rotating from one group to another. At the end of this lesson, the students will bring their brain games to the elementary school for students from grades K-4 to play. This directly affects the cooperative learning style and multi-age approach that I mentioned earlier.