My 3rd grade GT students are studying systems – including the brain. When I received an e-mail about a new series by that name, hosted by David Eagleman, I was intrigued.
The 6 hour television series will begin airing here in the States on October 14th on PBS. However, you can view some clips from the show ahead of time – and many of them are the perfect length to show younger students (2-3 minutes).
I showed my students “Inside a Child’s Brain” and we all learned something from that short clip. The thought that a two-year old child has more neural connections than any adult is staggering, but reinforced our learning that if we don’t use those paths regularly they will disappear.
We also enjoyed “Brain City.” Comparing the brain to a thriving metropolis perfectly explains the interdependence of this system, and the difficulty we have isolating any one of its parts.
My short sampling of clips has told me that I am definitely going to enjoy this series!

Great speaker! My family and I went to hear him speak at McKendree University’s Speaker Series last week. Very interesting, and he was able to break the science down into understandable chunks.
Really? That’s great! From what I’ve seen on the clips, he seems a perfect choice to host the series.