Goals: Students will understand the different emotional and intellectual parts of the brain and how they operate.
 Students will understand how the brain controls responses during an emotional event.
 Students will understand how the different emotional and intellectual parts of the brain
 are interrelated.

Materials:
chairs aind two tables
name tags with character names written on them
pre-written instructions for  character
prepared pretext
          initial message from the thalamus - two copies, 1 torn up into  pieces
          large bottle of Gatorade and small cups for class
          four written pieces of information that change the direction of the story has it unfolds

Character Assignments:
Students are given part assignments and a note that tells them things they need to know about their character and what their objectives are going to be in the activity. The class is then assigned various areas of the room to meet with their group. The groups will be as follows:

Neocortex (NEO Committee): intelligent, logical, makes decisions which can override decisions of
  the AMY Security Co.
Amygdala  (AMY 8ecunty Co.): emotionally driven group that maintains the security of the body;
  works with a team of security officers; subcontracts work out to the HIPPO memory Team.
Hippocampus (Memory Team) subcontraoted by AMY Security Co., they work closely with the
  AMY and the NEO Committee to sort through all related memories and advise what action
  would be appropriate based on past experience.
Left and Right Frontal Lobes (FLT) make reports to Amy Security Co. based solely on emotional
  responses, Left Frontal Lobe is cheerful and calming, Right Frontal Lobe is negative and
  aggressive.

Pretext:
    Student will play this roll - give this individual any name you like.  For the purpose of this plan
    Johnny is the chosen name.
Johnny is babysitting for 8 friend's six month old infant girl. He is at the friend's house and the  baby is upstairs sleeping. It is 8 pm. Johnny is downstairs in the TV room lying on the sofa asleep. The TV is on very low and there is an empty bowl of popcorn on the floor next to the sofa. It is dark in the room except for the TV as night has fallen  while Johnny was asleep. Johnny has never actually been in his friend's house before tonight.

Procedure:
The leader explains the pretext to everyone in the class. The leader playing the Thalamus delivers a message to the AMY Security Co. along with a bottle of Gatorade and cups for everyone.  Thalamus pours some Gatorade for everyone at AMY and  drinks with them before leaving.  The leader then delivers the second message to the NEO Committee.
The two groups read the message which says: Johnny's nose has reported smelling the strong smell of smoke and has preceded to wake Johnny up.  When the  eyes opened Johnny could see by  the dim Ilight of the TV that the room was filled with smoke. The ears reported nothing but the sound of the TV.
    The groups go into action performing their assigned tasks and using their character descriptions.  The leader guides the activity and keeps things on track. Freezing the action and focusing on what to do next may help the scenes progress. Someone should be assigned to be Johnny and be moved into action by the rest of the players. This should include all action even simply getting up off the sofa. Some of the players, like the HIPPO Team in particular, will have some predetermined thoughts or memories which are provided by the leader in writing at the start of the activity. This information may be shared when needed by other groups during the activity.

At three places during the activity the students playing the senses, i.e. eyes,  nose, etc., should receive additional information in writing which they then can report to the appropriate part of the brain.
1. When Johnny goes in the kitchen, the stove is off-- nothing is burning in there.
2. When Johnny goes up the stairs, the smell of smoke gets stnonger and the smoke looks
    thicker.
3. When Johnny looks in the master bedroom the smoke seems to be the strongest and he                                              sees the window is open.
4. When Johnny goes to the window in the bedroom he sees that the neighbors are grilling in
their backyard and they lit the coals with fuel making it smoke very niuch. The wind is
blowing the smoke into the house.

Assessment:
With the class sitting in a circle, discuss what took place and how the story played itself out. Each group should have a chance to talk to the class and answer questions like:
1. What went well?
2. What was difficult or didnt work?
3. Describe your relationship to each other in your group.
4. Describe your group’s relationship to the other groups.
    Write the five parts of the brain on the chalk board and ask the students to copy them down and write  a small paragraph about each one explaining what its job is and how it relates to the other parts.  All answers are correct since this may be based on observation from the activit which may have been vague and/r contusing at some points.  You can work with students to clear up any misunderstandings later.

Follow-up Assignment:
    Look up pictures of the brain with its various parts labeled.  Based on this picture draw a picture of your own brain and label the parts as the characters in the activity.

 Each of the following pages will be given to the appropriate group.

Neocortex Group
Neocortex (NEO Committee) . Your job is to determine how Johnny will respond to the situation step-by-step.
NEO...
is always intellectual and logical
decides everything through committee meetings with no hierarchical structure makes decisions which canl override decisions of the AMY Security Co.
all decisions must take into consideration reports and recommendations from the HIPPO Memory Team, AMY Security Co., eyes, ears and nose, and the FLT.
may be overridden by actions taken by AMY Security CO., but does try to work with AMY - asks questions, interviews other brain parts, gets information and details analyzes, and makes logical, informed decisions

NOTE: The Prefrontal Cortex is a member of the NEO Committee and is in charge of frequently visiting the AMY Security Co. as a NEO representative in order to calm down their excitement using risk/benefit analysis to reason with AMY’s CEOs.
SUMMARY AND NAMES OF OTHER GROUPS

Amygdala (AMY Security Co.) - emotionally driven group that maintains the secunty of the body; works with a team of security officers; subcontracts work out to the Hippo Memory Team. You will get information from the eyes, ears and nose through AMY’s security officers.
Hippocampus (HIPPO Memory Team) - subcontracted by AMY Security Co., they work closely with the AMY and the NEO Committee to sort through all related memories and advise what action would be appropriate based on past experience.
Left and Right Frontal Lobes (FLT) - make reports to Amy Security Co. based solely on emotional responses; Left Frontal Lobe is cheerful and calming; Right Frontal Lobe is negative and aggressive.
 

Amygdala Group
Amygdala (AMY Security Co.) -  Your job is to maintain the security of the body and determine how Johnny will respond to the situation step-by~step.

AMY Security Co.
(assign two students to be the  CEOs)
makes all decisions quickly and based on emotions and memories unless otherwise instructed by NEO
does not necessariy use rationa logic
starts out by drinking a shot of Gatorade from Thalamus which makes them respond quickly end then sends out security officers: (student) to the eyes, nose and ears
       (student) to the arms, legs and heart
Secunty Officers prepare these parts to respond to the situation and come back frequently to me main office to report
immediately delivers a shot of Gatorade to all other parts of the brain in preparation for response
passes on any reports from AMY Secunty Officers to the HIPPO Memory Team
gets advise from HIPPO Memory Team, the PFC from NEO, and Left and Right FLT
AMY's decisions may be overridden by NEO, but AMY can act faster than NEO and works independently
AMY does try to work together with NEO if possible and when time permits
HIPPO Memory Team is subcontracted by AMY to provide consulting with AMY and NEO (assign students to the team)
PFC will frequently visit AMY and give advise
Left and Right Frontal Lobe Team (FLT) will also visit AMY and make reports
because of the quickness with which AMY mobilizes, they may change their rnind at any time

SUMMARY AND NAMES OF OTHER GROUPS:
Neocortex (NEO Committee): intelligent, logical, makes decisions which can override
decisions of the AMY Security Co. Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is a member of the NEO Committee. This representative of NEO periodically visits the AMY Security Co. to calm down theIr excitement using risk/benefit analysis.
Hippocampus (HIPPO Memory Team): subcontracted by AMY Security Co., they work closely with the AMY and the NEO Committee to sort through all related memories and advise what action would be appropriate based on past experience.
Left and Right Frontal Lobes (FLT): make reports to Amy Security Co based soley on emotional responses; Left Frontal Lobe is cheerful and calming; Right Frontal Lobe is negative and aggressive.
 

Hippocampus Group
 Hippocampus (HIPPO Memory Team): Your job is to help determine how Johnny will respond to the situation step-by-step.

HIPPO Memory Team...

is subcontracted by AMY Security Co. to provide consulting to AMY and NEO regarding appropriate action to take based on past experience
sorts through all related memories based on early reports from Thafamus and subsequent reports from the Security Officers from the AMY Security Co.
reports briefly to AMY and then goes to give detailed reports to NEO

SUNIMARY AND NAMES OF OTHER GROUPS:

Neocortex (NEO Comrnitte): intelligent, logical, makes decisions which can override decisions of the AMY Security. Co. Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is a member of the NEO
Committee.  This representative of NEO periodically visits the AMY Security Co. to calm down their excitement using risk/benefit analysis.

Amygdala (AMY Security Co.): emotionally driven group that maintains the security of the body; works with a team of security officers; suiccontracts work out to the HIPPO Memory Team. You will get information from the eyes, nose and ears through AMY’s security officers.

Left and Right Frontal Lobes (FLT): make reports to Amy Security Co. based solely on emotional responses, Left Frontal Lobe is cheerful and calming; Right Frontal lobe is negative and aggressive.

 MEMORY INFORIATION
 

You may spend time on these stories filling out the details:

1. When Johnny was five years old his father burned some popcorn on the stove and it filled the house with very strong smelling smoke that didn’t go away for days.  Johnny's mom was upset and kept telling his dad that he could have burned the house down.

2. When Jonnny was in sixth grade there was a fire in his school. It was caused by an  electrical  short in the wood shop and it filled the school with smoke through the ventilation system. Everyone evacuated in a panic because it was hard to see and breathe.  No one was hurt, but a fireman was in critical condition for awhile after being overcome by smoke while helping students get out. The damage was fairly contained and school opened up again in five days.

3. When Johnny was a junior in high school the house two doors down from his burned down one night at Christmas time. The fire department fought the  blaze for hours while the family and neighborhood watched in horror. The family lost everything including all of their Christmas gifts. Their eight year old dog, Huckleberry, died in the fire. The family had to move away and live with relatives.  Johnny used to hang out with the boy, Jerry, who lived there.

 Left and Right Frontal Lobes (Frontal Lobe Team) Your job is to help determine how Johnny  will respond to the situation step-by-step.

FLT...

makes reports to the AMY Security Co.
provides only emotional responses to the problem
(student) is the Right FLT and is always negative: aggressive, tense, angry, sad, etc. (student) is the Left FLT and is always positive: cheerful, relaxed, happy, perky, etc. It is theLeft FLT’s job to continually calm Right FLT down and counterbalance her/his response to things,particularly something that appears negative.  Don’t let her/him get out of control!

SUMMARY AND NAMES OF OTHER GROUPS:
Neocortex (NEO Committee) intelligent, logical, makes decisions which can override decisions of the AMY Security Co. Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) is a member of the NEO Committee. This representative of NEO periodically visits the AMY Security Co. to calm down their excitement using risk/benefit analysis.
Amygdala (AMY SecurIty Co.) emotionally driven group that maintains the secunty of the body; works with a team of security officers; subcantracts work out to the HlPPO Memory Team. You will get information from the eyes, nose and ears through AMY’s security officers.
Hippocampus (HIPPO Memory Team): subcontracted by AMY security Co., they work closely with the AMY and the NEO Committee to sort through all related memories and advise what action would be appropriate based on past experience.

 REPORT: When Johnny goes in the kitchen, the stove is off -- nothing is burining in there.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

REPORT: When Johnny goes up the stairs the smell of smoke gets stronger and the smoke looks thicker.
 
 
 

REPORT:  When Johnny looks in the master bedroom the smoke seems to be the strongest and he sees the window is open.
 
 
 

REPORT:  When Jonnny goes to the window in the bedmom he sees that the neighbors are grilling in their backyard and they lit the coals with fuel making a lot of smoke. The wind is blowing the smoke into the house.
 
 

Johnny’s nose has reported smelling the strong

smell of smoke and has proceeded to wake

Johnny up.  When the eyes opened Johnny

could see by the dim light of the TV that the

room was filled with smoke. The ears reported

nothing but the sound of the TV.