Neuroscience Club and Brain Bee Study Group Kit¶
This kit helps students run a neuroscience club or a Brain Bee study group using this book. It has a 10-session plan, three simple roles, a mock Brain Bee, and tips for making meetings welcoming. Everything in it is free. You need a screen, internet access, and paper.
You don't need to be an expert to lead. The leader's job is to keep the meeting moving and ask good questions, not to know every answer. The book has the answers.
Independent and unofficial
This book and kit are not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the International Brain Bee, any local or national Brain Bee, or the Society for Neuroscience. Competition rules vary by place and by year. Check thebrainbee.org and your local Brain Bee chapter for official rules and study materials.
Before the first meeting¶
- Find an adult advisor. Most schools require one for a club. A science or health teacher is a natural fit. The For Teachers page explains the book to them.
- Book a room with a projector or a big screen. MicroSims also run on phones and Chromebooks, so members can follow along on their own devices.
- Gather free materials: scrap paper or index cards, pencils, a timer (any phone works), and mini whiteboards or sheets in plastic sleeves if you have them.
- Pick a regular time. Each session in this kit takes 45 to 60 minutes.
Roles¶
Rotate roles each week so everyone gets a turn and no one carries the whole club.
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Leader | Opens and closes the meeting, runs the MicroSim on the big screen, and keeps the discussion on topic. Reads the session's chapter Summary and Key Takeaways ahead of time. |
| Timekeeper | Runs the timer for each part of the agenda and gives a one-minute warning. Keeps the meeting from running over. |
| Quizmaster | Prepares the warm-up and the speed round from the chapter's Brain Bee Practice and quiz pages, reads the questions, and checks answers. |
For bigger clubs, add a case lead for the Bedside round, who hands out the "Meet the patient" boxes and reveals the answer.
The meeting template¶
Every session follows the same five parts. Times add up to 50 minutes. Shorten the MicroSim or case parts for a 45-minute meeting, or let the case discussion run longer for 60.
| Part | Time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Warm-up | 5 min | The quizmaster reads one or two Brain Bee Practice questions from an earlier session. Everyone writes an answer, then reveal together. Mixing in old material helps memory stick. |
| 2. MicroSim activity | 15 min | The leader runs the session's MicroSim on the big screen. Use predict, observe, explain: everyone writes a prediction before each change, then the sim shows what happens, then someone explains any surprise in their own words. Each sim page has a Lesson Plan you can borrow from. |
| 3. Bedside: diagnose in teams | 15 min | Teams of three or four get only the "Meet the patient" box from the chapter's At the Bedside case. Each team decides where in the nervous system the problem is, then what it might be, and one test they would order. Then the case lead reveals the rest of the case. Finish with the "Your turn: diagnose a variation" question. |
| 4. Brain Bee speed round | 10 min | The quizmaster reads questions from the chapter's Brain Bee Practice section and quiz. Answers must be short (a word or phrase). Play in teams, or play elimination: two misses and you become a judge. |
| 5. Exit question | 5 min | Everyone answers one question on an index card and hands it to the leader. Next week's leader uses the cards to pick a warm-up. |
The 10-session plan¶
Members should skim the chapter before each meeting if they can, but the plan still works if they don't. Each row links to the chapter and its MicroSim.
| # | Topic | Read | MicroSim | Bedside case | Exit question |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neurons and glia | Chapter 1 | Neuron Explorer | Blurry vision and tingling legs | Why does losing myelin slow a signal or stop it? |
| 2 | The action potential | Chapter 2 | Action Potential Simulator | A numb lip at the dentist | How does a neuron signal "stronger" if every spike is the same size? |
| 3 | Synapses and drugs | Chapter 3 | Synapse Simulator | Eyelids that droop by evening | What is the difference between an agonist and an antagonist? |
| 4 | Tour of the brain | Chapter 4 | Clickable Brain Atlas (use quiz mode) | Two frontal lobes, nearly 180 years apart | Name one lobe and one job it does. |
| 5 | Vision and the other senses | Chapter 5, Chapter 6 | Visual Pathway Lesion Simulator (turn on Hide result first) | The driver who kept bumping door frames | Why does a lesion at the optic chiasm affect the outer half of vision in both eyes? |
| 6 | Movement | Chapter 7 | Basal Ganglia Gas and Brake | The slowing teacher | What happens to movement when dopamine is low? |
| 7 | Memory and sleep | Chapter 9, Chapter 10 | Aplysia Learning or Hypnogram Builder | Patient H.M. and anterograde amnesia | What kind of memory could H.M. still form? |
| 8 | Stroke, concussion, and seizures | Chapter 14 | Stroke Territory Map (turn on Predict first) | Three emergencies, three brains | What does each letter of BE-FAST stand for? |
| 9 | How doctors examine the brain | Chapter 16 | Neuro Exam Decision Tree | Sudden weakness on one side | Why do doctors ask "where" before "what"? |
| 10 | Mock Brain Bee | Appendix A | None | One case as the final round | Which two chapters will you review next, and why? |
Session 8 extra. Practice the seizure first aid steps from Section 14.10 out loud: Stay, Safe, Side. This is a useful skill even for members who never compete.
Want more sessions? Chapters 8, 11, 12, 13, and 15 make good extra meetings. Chapters 11 and 15 cover stress, PTSD, mental illness, and addiction. Ask your advisor to read the safety and sensitivity notes first, and keep the crisis resources from those chapters handy: in the U.S., call or text 988, and SAMHSA's National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357.
Running a mock Brain Bee (Session 10)¶
Appendix A has a 50-question original mock exam in Section A.6 and a scoring guide in Section A.7. The full exam takes 60 minutes, so a single club meeting works best with a shorter version. Real Brain Bee formats vary a lot, so treat this as practice, not a copy of any real competition. Section A.1 describes some formats.
Before the meeting (quizmaster):
- Pick 20 to 25 questions from Section A.6, a few from each chapter you covered. Copy the questions onto a handout or slides without the answers. The answers sit in "Show Answer" boxes under each question, so keep the answer list for yourself.
- Pick about 20 short-answer questions from different chapters' Brain Bee Practice sections for the oral round.
- Pick one Bedside case members have not seen yet (for example, from Chapter 10, 11, 12, or 13) for the diagnosis round.
At the meeting (about 60 minutes):
| Round | Time | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Written round | 25 min | Closed book, phones away. Everyone answers the chosen multiple-choice questions on paper. Swap papers and score together. |
| Oral round | 15 min | Everyone stands. The quizmaster reads a question to one person at a time. Each person gets about 10 seconds to answer out loud. Two misses and you sit down and become a judge. Go until a few people are left. |
| Diagnosis round | 15 min | Read only the "Meet the patient" box aloud. Each person writes where the problem is, the diagnosis, and one test they would order. Reveal the case and score one point for each. |
| Wrap-up | 5 min | Each person uses the table in Section A.7 to find which chapters to review. |
Keep the mood friendly. The point is to find weak spots before a real competition, not to rank members. If anyone plans to compete, point them to the 4-week study plan in Section A.3.
Making meetings welcoming¶
- Make the first meeting easy to join. Say clearly that no background is needed. Many members will be new to every term.
- Learn names and use them. Start each meeting with names and one quick fun question.
- Spread the talking. Use "think, write, then share" so quieter members have time to form an answer. In team rounds, rotate who reports.
- Celebrate good reasoning, not just right answers. A team that localizes the problem correctly but names the wrong disease did the hardest part.
- Keep it free. Don't require members to buy anything. Everything in this kit runs in a browser.
- Make room for different devices and needs. Sims work on phones and Chromebooks. Read questions aloud and also show them on screen. Seat members who use screen readers or need larger text near the front, or pair them with a partner who runs the sim.
- Respect privacy. The Bedside cases are fictional. Don't ask members to share their own or their family's medical history, and don't "diagnose" each other. Nothing in the book is medical advice.
- Be careful with heavy topics. If a meeting covers stress, mental health, or drug use, give a heads-up ahead of time and let anyone step out without explaining.
- Mix competitors and the curious. Not everyone wants to compete. Give non-competitors roles like case lead or judge so the club works for both.
Tell us how it went¶
If your club uses this kit, the author would love to hear what worked and what didn't. Please don't include members' names or other personal information.
Open an issue on GitHub to share feedback, suggest a new session, or report an error in the book.