Now that you have read Zoe and Zak's Brainy Adventure (book 3) you are ready to take on the next challenge!
Let's recap the 3rd story:
Zoe and her cousin Zak are in the same class at school. Before science class, Zoe tumbles and hurts her knee but is keen to keep going so she doesn't miss her favourite class with Ms Zimmer. The students are taken on an exciting virtual reality experience. They see inside the brain where there are messages zipping to and fro with alerts and advice for action! They learn that while pain can be a good protector, if it goes on for too long it can become unhelpful.
Here are some printable sheets for you to get stuck into...
Puppet show
Colour in and cut out the characters, then tape onto your fingers to re-enact the Brainy Adventure story!
Brain messages
Think about things in your life that may make your feeling of pain go up or down.
Quiz
6. Imagine your friend was feeling pain for a really long time. Their brain has become SUPER-PROTECTIVE ('a heightened state'). Can you think of a story of what's happening inside their body with this unhelpful SUPER-PROTECTION?
Eg. It's like a smoke detector going off when a fly lands on it!
Eg. It's like soldiers in an army, advancing too much!
7. When pain lasts for more than 3 months, many people start to notice that their pain spreads to other nearby body parts. Scientists call this ‘brain map smudging’. We have a map in our brain (called our ‘homonculus’), and the map gets blurrier after a few months of trying to keep us safe… so our brain protects MORE areas around the body part that first started hurting. If this sounds pretty crazy, check out this video - https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-fascinating-science-of-phantom-limbs-joshua-w-pate
The most exciting thing about all this, is that the brain doesn’t get totally stuck with the new map – it is always changing!
8. Your brain is REALLY powerful! Learning stuff actually makes room in your brain to learn more stuff!
This isn’t a question, it’s a challenge for you: Go and tell someone this and see what they say!
9. When you have your vaccine, you are protected. Sometimes you feel a bit sick: that’s your immune system learning how to protect you.
Ask an adult who’s at home with you about the immune system and how pain relates to it. If you aren’t sure, have a look at Explain Pain with them.
Our brains are always doing their best to keep us safe. In the next book we’ll learn about how our brains can be retrained!
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