YES Gets Ready for the Brain Bee

This weekend, teens in the Youth Exploring Science (YES) Program’s Integrative Medicine & Well Being component are putting their brains to the test in the latest St. Louis Area Brain Bee, a fun and friendly annual competition where high school students can demonstrate their knowledge in the field of neuroscience.

This year’s competition will take place on Saturday, February 26, on Zoom. The Brain Bee, from Washington University and the Society for Neuroscience, is similar to a spelling bee, but focused on the human brain. Since the competition started in 2011, the Brain Bee has encouraged participants to study the brain then come together to compete in written and oral quizzes. Topics and questions come from the book Brain Facts produced by the Society for Neuroscience.

The top 10 finalists win prizes, and the winner also receives a paid summer research internship at Washington University as well as a trip to compete in the National Brain Bee. (This year’s competitions will also be held virtually.)

The YES Program has been participating in the competition for several years, even seeing a number of YES Teens who have finished the competition in fourth, third, and even second place. Will 2022 be the year that one of the YES Teens takes the top spot?

Mia Harsley, Manager of Program Operations for the Science Center’s Community Science Department, has been hard at work to help make it happen.

Mia and the teens inside the Integrative Medicine & Well Being component—one of six immersive hands-on STEAM components in the program—have been hard at work preparing for the Brain Bee with Saturday morning practice sessions.

In their first session the YES Teens practiced by examining facts about the brain and detailed information on brain processes, and by studying the development of the brain from conception to birth. The Teens also reviewed brain scans to compare them and look for differences. These activities build upon previous ones the Teens have done, like dissecting a sheep brain, and reinforce information they have previously learned. But they also build on new topics, like the endocrine, muscular, and skeletal systems the YES Teens in the component are set to learn about this year.

For an educator like Mia, the opportunity to see the YES Teens utilize the knowledge they’ve acquired is a rewarding one. “During our first practice session,” Mia recalls, “I remember watching my Teens really grasp the material and get to implement what they learned during the 2020–2021 school year. They were able to answer questions utilizing that prior understanding they’d gained, and as an educator I’m always excited to see and experience them putting knowledge into practice.”

One of the goals of the Brain Bee is to help students set a foundation for a possible career in neuroscience by engaging them in hands-on activities and introducing them to possible mentors.

In fact, three of the YES Teens in the Integrative Health & Well Being component are planning to go into the medical field.

Giving teens the chance to engage with STEAM topics in immersive, hands-on ways is a core part of the YES Program. As one of the key ways the Science Center delivers on its mission “to ignite and sustain lifelong science and technology learning,” YES has provided engaging, informal STEM learning for low-income, minority high school students, members of a population historically underrepresented in STEAM, with the goal of helping them realize their potential as STEAM professionals. To date, more than 1,200 teens have graduated from the YES Program.

Participating in the Brain Bee is just one of the unique ways in which YES is helping teens discover their potential in STEAM.

Join us in cheering on the YES Teens competing in this year’s Brain Bee!