written by Anna Buchholz (education and outreach coordinator for The Bentil Group)
Anna Buchholz, Megan Beck, Annastacia McCarty, and Lucas McPherren volunteered for several hours in the outreach room, at the Iowa First Lego League State Championships held in Ames Iowa on January 20, 2019. Here, student participants and their families were able to walk up to The Bentil Group (TBG) members and ask questions about each of the member’s research activities.
The Bentil Group members at the 2019 First Lego League State Championships. Members from left to right are: Megan Beck, Anna Buchholz, Annastacia McCarty, and Lucas McPherren.
Participants and their families were shown a video about the shock tube, which featured several members of The Bentil Group. This led to increased curiosity about how this research is beneficial, and why it is important.
Lucas McPherren (right of the monitor) sharing the video of the shock tube.
Foam brain models were used as props, during the explanation of the various brain regions and its corresponding function(s). The student participants and their families were also able to take a word search with them, or work on the word search during the presentation by TBG members. This word search featured the different parts of the brain, along with words from the discussion such as, “shock tube” and “shock wave”.