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0 Left and Right Brain

Your brain is the product of 500 million years of evolution. Previously, in the medieval
period, doctors believed that your consciousness was located in your heart and not in the
head. What is amazing also is that 95% of what we now know about the human brain has
only been discovered in the last 10 to 20 years.
This strange ball of goop with the consistency of a thick porridge is responsible for so many
important functions in your learning.

What does your brain do?

1. The brain receives information via your senses.
2. The brain stores and retains information based on the frequency of which you access
this information.
3. The brain analyses the information to make patterns (this is a crucial survival skill to
help identify predators.) Have you ever noticed shapes in clouds?
4. The brain controls how you manage information by determining your attitude, focus
and approach to learning.
5. Finally, your brain formulates the ‘output’ of information in terms of the way in
which you express what you have learned through writing, drawing or discussing.

With all these important functions, it is important to understand how your brain works and
what factors can impact how it works.

Left brain and Right brain.

Your brain can be divided into two large hemispheres, the left and the right, both
hemispheres are used to produce various different functions within the brain.
Left Hemisphere: logic, words, lists, lines, numbers and analysis - the so-called 'academic' activities.
While the left cortex is engaged in these activities, the right cortex is more in the 'alpha wave' or
resting state, ready to assist.

Right Hemisphere: rhythm, imagination, colour, daydreaming, spatial awareness, Gestalt (that is,
the whole organized picture or, as you might put it, 'the whole being greater than the sum of its
parts') and dimension.

Task 1: Which hemisphere do you think you use in the following activities?

Writing a poem. Right

Calculating a percentage. Left
Sketching a diagram. Left
Playing the drum. Right
Solving a crossword puzzle. Left
Singing. Right
Remembering dates in History. Left
Remembering the taste of a chocolate cake. Right

Learning principle number #1

Finding ways to use both hemispheres of our brains at the same time creates a right and left
hemisphere synthesis and this enhances our ‘learning power.’
Einstein, for instance, numbered among his activities violin
playing, art, sailing, and 'imagination games'. And Einstein
gave credit for many of his more significant scientific insights
to those imagination games. While daydreaming on a hill
one summer day, he imagined riding sunbeams to the far
extremities of the Universe, and upon finding himself
returned, 'illogically', to the surface of the sun, he realized
that the Universe must indeed be curved, and that his
previous 'logical' training was incomplete. The numbers,
equations and words he wrapped around this new image
gave us the Theory of Relativity
Open the link here and answer the questions that follow.

What is the speed of light?

299,792,458 m/s

What would happen if you traveled faster than the speed of light?
Time would go in reverse

What would happen to time if you increased the amount of gravity that you were
exposed to?
Time would go slower
 Leonardo da Vinci. In his time he was
arguably the most accomplished man in each
of the following disciplines: art, sculpture,
physiology, general science, architecture,
mechanics, anatomy, physics, invention,
meteorology, geology, engineering and
aviation. He could also play, compose, and
sing spontaneous ballads when thrown any
stringed instrument in the courts of Europe.
Rather than separating these different areas
of his latent ability, da Vinci combined them.
His scientific notebooks are filled with three-
dimensional drawings and images; and,
equally interesting, the final plans for his
great painting masterpieces often look like
architectural plans: straight lines, angles,
curves and numbers incorporating
mathematics, logic and precise
measurements.
To use your left and right brain
when taking notes do the
following.

1. Use diagrams.
2. Keep the notes
short/simple.
3. Use the entire page and
the space available.
4. Use colour, and different
styles of fonts.
Task 2: Take notes like Da Vinci.
Open the link here and takes notes on the 25 most interesting facts on the human brain.
Use one page, add diagrams, colour and layout the notes in a way that will use both sides
of the brain.

Part 2: After the notes have been completed, partner up with a peer and offer
constructive feedback on the notes. Use the guiding questions below.

1. Does your notes make use of both sides of the brain hemispheres?
2. Are there relatable and reliable diagrams?
3. Do the notes make good use of the space?
Red – facts to do with numbers, Purple – random facts, Physical facts about the brain, Blue –

facts to do with memories

1. It can store an estimated 2,500,000 gigabytes

2. The human attention span is shorter than a goldfish

3. The average weight of the adult human brain is three pounds

4. Memories are stored for both short-term and long-term use at the same time

5. Vitamin B1 can help improve short- and long-term memory

6. Easy access to information can make it harder to remember

7. Memories start forming in the womb

8. It uses 20% of the body’s total oxygen and energy

9. It’s composed of 73% water

10. Sweating can temporarily shrink the brain

11. Five minutes without oxygen can cause brain damage

12. It generates 12-15 watts of electricity

13. Neurons travel 150 mph in the brain

14. Those who take a quiz twice are 65% more likely to remember the facts

15. Learning new things increases gray matter in the brain

16. Memory is prioritized by emotion

17. Emotions can alter our brain chemistry

18. It has an average of 50,000-70,000 thoughts a day

19. More than 100,000 chemical reactions take place in the brain every second

20. When intoxicated, it can’t form memories

21. Practicing recollection can help PTSD

22. Its texture and consistency is comparable to tofu

23. It starts slowing at around 24 years old

24. 95% of all decisions are subconscious

25. The brain itself cannot feel pain