Makey-Makey Brain Anatomy Teacher

This project consists of three-dimensional models of each brain lobe. The aim of this project is to teach people the names and basic functions of each part of the brain.

About 5 sheets of newspapers/scrap paper

Tin Foil

Tape

Acrylic Paints (6 colors - Optional)

Scissors

Makey-Makey kit

7 Alligator Clips

6 Singular White Wires

Hot Glue Gun

Ruler

11 in. x 1 in. piece of felt

To create each lobe, crumple up a sheet of newspaper/scrap paper. Each brain lobe is a different size, so the frontal lobe should be about 4 inches by 3.5 inches by 3 inches, the temporal lobe should be about 4 inches by 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches, the parietal lobe should be about 3.5 inches by 3 inches by 2.75 inches, the occipital lobe should be about 2.5 inches by 2 inches by 2 inches, and the cerebellum should be about 3 inches by 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches.

The paper will add volume to the lobe, so do not make the newspaper/scrap paper too compact.

Wrap each crumpled piece of newspaper/scrap paper with tin foil. Make sure you do not push too hard on the tin foil when covering the paper because it will alter the size of the brain parts.

Next, cover each part of the brain in paper, but leave a sizeable hole at the top and a small hole near the bottom of each part. Any kind of paper will work. To cover the parts, use a pair of scissors to cut away excess paper, and use tape to make the paper stay in place.

Once you cover each part with paper, you can paint them to make it easier to tell the difference between the parts. You can paint the frontal lobe yellow, the temporal lobe green, the parietal lobe pink, the occipital lobe blue, and the cerebellum purple. After the paint is dried, you can use a sharpie to highlight the wrinkle designed on the parts of the brain.

To create the brain stem, rolle up a piece of newspaper/scrap paper so it is 3 inches by 1 inch by 1 inch. Next cut a piece of tin foil that is 2.5 inches by three inches. Cover the paper with tin foil. Roll the piece of paper around the tin foil structure so the two ends of the tin foil are exposed.

Now, paint the paper part of the brain stem red. You can use a sharpie to add accents to the brain stem

In order to let the person touching the parts of the brains activate the program, the person needs to be connected to the Makey-Makey in some way.

To make a bracelet, cut a piece of felt that is 11 inches by 1 inch. Next, cut a piece of tin foil that is 6 inches by 1 inch. Use a hot glue gun to stick the piece of tin foil onto the felt. The tin foil should be at least an inch away from one end of the felt. Finally, make a small hole in the middle of the felt by the tin foil, so you can stick the other end of the felt through the hole when you wrap the strip of felt around your wrist.

Plug in the Makey-Makey. Then, flip the Makey-Makey to its back where you can see a black rectangle with holes labeled W, A, S, D, F, and G. Put a singular white wire into each of these holes. Then attach alligator clips to the other ends of each of these wires. Next, clip the other end of the alligator clip onto each part of the brain. Each alligator clip needs to be clipped onto a certain part of the brain for the program to work. The frontal lobe needs to be attached to the W wire, the brain stem needs to be attached to the A wire, the temporal lobe needs to be attached to the D wire, the parietal lobe needs to be attached to the F wire, and the cerebellum needs to be attached to the G wire.

An alligator clip needs to be attached to a pair of holes at the bottom of the Makey-Makey, labeled ground. Attach the other end of the alligator clip to a part of the bracelet.

To make this project work, the Scratch program is necessary. In general, Scratch is a platform that allows people to create programs by dragging and dropping blocks of code. By tapping each section of the brain where there is tin foil, an audio will play, giving the name and a simple definition of each part of the brain.

This is the link to the Scratch program that is needed for this project: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/616823154

***Warning:

Do not touch another part of the brain until the audio is finished playing. If you do, the audios will play over each other.