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The size of brain is a frequent topic of study within the fields of anatomy and evolution. Brain size sometimes measured by weight and sometimes by volume

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Studies on human brain size, largely based on participants of European ancestry, tend to find an average adult brain volume of 1260 cubic centimeters (cm 3) for men and 1130 cm 3 for women.

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Music-Centuries by Fall Out Boy

Lyrics by Mr. Parr

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Your brain is in control Information, nerve impulse Through nerves they're traveling Remembering from memory You've made past mistakes Helps decisions you make You use your history Remembering from memory Remembering from memory Cerebrum most activities Mental thinking, and learning And cerebellum Has muscle balance Brain stem controls the heart

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Brain breaks are short,energizing bursts of activity that boost blood flow,send oxygen to the brain and help  student retains better information.

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Kids sit an awful lot in school these days. With some schools in the country limiting recess, reducing or even cutting PE classes, and placing a bigger focus on test scores (and test prep), children spend serious time being sedentary.

Why Movement Matters

Being seated for long periods of time has some major drawbacks for kids. Not only does it make it tough for them to get enough physical activity in the day, but it also makes it harder to actually pay attention and learn.

Angela Hanscom, a pediatric occupational therapist, writes in the Washington Post:

Children naturally start fidgeting in order to get the movement their body so desperately needs and is not getting enough of to "turn their brain on." What happens when the children start fidgeting? We ask them to sit still and pay attention; therefore, their brain goes back to "sleep."

In order for children to learn, they need to be able to pay attention. In order to pay attention, we need to let them move.

Movement actually does "turn on" the brain. Look how activity can literally light up areas of a child's brain that allow for better learning:

How Brain Breaks Can Help

It may not be realistic for schools to add in more time for recess or extra PE. But students can easily be given "Brain Breaks" throughout the day. Brain Breaks are short, energizing bursts of activity that boost blood flow, send oxygen to the brain, and help kids better retain information. It can be as simple as taking five minutes to stand up, stretch, and run in place next to the desk. My son's first grade teacher takes the class on a short walk around the building every day. Research has shown that Brain Breaks increase students' on-task behavior AND the amount of physical activity they get every day so it's a win-win. (Read more here.)

Ideally, students should get multiple Brain Breaks in the day and be active in other ways as well. Here's an ideal schedule for students, compliments of fellow dietitian Dayle Hayes, who presented the information at a workshop I attended at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo:

Walk to school

BREAKFAST

Classroom learning with hourly energizers

Recess*

LUNCH

Classroom learning with hourly energizers

Recess

Classroom learning with hourly energizers

*It's been shown that kids waste less food, eat more fruits and vegetables, and have better behavior when they have recess BEFORE lunch versus after lunch. (Read more here.)

What You Can Do

If you're a teacher, consider incorporating Brain Breaks into the day. If you're a parent, talk to your child's teacher about the idea. Here are some resources and videos that make Brain Breaks easy and fun to do. And they're FREE!

Move to Learn Fitness Energizers: More than 30 fitness videos for students K-8 with routines kids can do alongside their desks.

Energizers for Grades K-2: Ideas for incorporating academic concepts into physical activity, such as games that mix jumping and running in place with learning letters and numbers.

Go Noodle Brain Breaks: Tons of free, short videos to get kids moving in the classroom, including short Zumba routines (my son's teacher uses these when they have indoor recess and he loves it!).

Time for 10: Free 10-minute fitness videos featuring fitness experts and kids, with themes like kickboxing, core, and flexibility.

Adventure to Fitness: Videos that incorporate physical activity and common core-aligned learning, like jogging (in place) through Yellowstone National Park. Free registration gives teachers access to some videos; more are available with a paid subscription.

Teach Train Love: This teacher has compiled several lists of fun Brain Break videos from YouTube.

Action for Healthy Kids: A Pinterest page full of classroom brain break ideas, including some for middle school.
Big thanks to Dayle Hayes for supplying the brain scan graphic and ideal school schedule. Check out Dayle's blog School Meals That Rock and her School Meals That Rock Facebook page for ideas, inspiration, and photos of school meals from across the country that celebrate "what is RIGHT with school nutrition in America".
Why students need 'Brain Breaks' and how you can help! Click To Tweet

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Students need Brain Breaks! Here's why--plus how to help.

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Kids sit an awful lot in school these days. With some schools in the country limiting recess, reducing or even cutting PE classes, and placing a bigger focus on test scores (and test prep), children spend serious time being sedentary. Being seated for long periods of time has some major drawbacks for kids.

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Flipsnack is a digital catalog maker that makes it easy to create, publish and share html5 flipbooks. Upload a PDF or design from scratch flyers, magazines, books and more. Author: chaeki, Catalog: images (1), Published: Mar 30, 2017

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An organ of soft nervous tissue contained in the skull of vertebrates, functioning as the coordinating centre of sensation and intellectual and nervous activity.

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The brain is composed of three parts: the brainstem, cerebellum, and cerebrum. The cerebrum is divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital. The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain and is composed of right and left hemispheres.The brainstem includes the midbrain, pons, and medulla.