The British Brain Bee aims to inspire teenagers to choose a career in STEM. To achieve this goal, we visit schools, give teenagers an insight into a scientific or medical career and we help them prepare for the Brain Bee competition.
All our volunteers have undergone DBS checks and safeguarding and health and safety training.
All volunteers are STEM Ambassadors.
Currently, we only visit schools based in London, Cambridge, Oxford, Bristol, Kent, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.
The topics we cover include:
-
- A general talk about a career in neurosciences or medicine
- Preparation for the Brain Bee competition
- Sheep brain dissection workshop
- Nervous system topics covered in the national curriculum:
In England:
3.6 Organisms respond to changes in their internal and external environments (A-level only)
3.6.1 Stimuli, both internal and external, are detected and lead to a response (A-level only)
3.6.2 Nervous coordination (A-level only)
In Scotland:
Human Biology: Neurobiology and Communication (Higher)
- Brain Bee competition-related topics:
| No. | Module | Lesson 1 | Lesson 2 | Lesson 3 | Lesson 4 | Lesson 5 | Lesson 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Basics | Introduction to Neuroscience | Introduction to Cellular Neuroscience | Introduction to Neuroanatomy | |||
| 2 | Sensation and Motion | Vision | Audition | Somatosensation | Chemosensation | Nociception | Movement and Coordination |
| 3 | Higher Functions | Learning and Memory | Cognition and Intelligence | Sleep | Emotion | Language Processing | Awareness and Attention |
| 4 | Development | Embryonic Neuroscience | Teenage Neurodevelopment | Evolution of the Brain | Normal aging | ||
| 5 | Laboratory Neuroscience | Neuroimaging | Experimental Techniques | Model Organisms | Pharmacology | Neuroinformatics | |
| 6 | Disorders | Neurodevelopmental Disorders | Psychiatric Disorders | Neurodegenerative disorders | Multi-System Disorders | ||
| 7 | Modern Neuroscience | Neuroethics | Frontiers of Neuroscience |