Life Education Visits Girls' School

Learning all about the ‘Brainy Bunch’ was the health topic yesterday inside the Life Education mobile classroom at the Girls’ School. Educator Meredith, and her cheeky sidekick Harold the Giraffe introduced the Year 5 girls to the brain, lungs, heart, muscles, stomach and intestines and learnt how the brain controls the body and all that we think and do.

Supporting the School’s Health and Science Curriculum, the interactive health education programme is visiting the School all this week covering food and nutrition, body systems, self-esteem and social relationship themes. The girls from Years 1-6 will all have the opportunity to step out of the classroom to enjoy the unique learning environment inside the truck and experience its lighting and sound effects, DVDs and interactive models.

The Year 5 girls met Alex, an 11 year old boy and saw how his ‘Brainy Bunch’ were affected by his varied activities throughout the day, such as the importance of breakfast and the effect of stress. They explored appropriate ways of dealing with stress, peer pressure and/or bullying and looked at different types of behaviour responses to overcome these.

The girls were fascinated at the up close look at how the body’s internal organs function and they now have a greater understanding of their own ‘Brainy Bunch’ and each vital part they play.

Did you know?

• Our brain is more complex than the most powerful computer and has over 100 billion nerve cells.
• The brain of an adult weighs about 1.5kgs. Although it makes up just 2% of the body’s weight, it uses around 20% of its energy.
• An adult has 75km of nerves. The longest single nerve fibre runs from the base of the spine to the tip of the big toe.