The Sinai Neuroscience Outreach Program (SNOP) has been established to

promote neuroscience education at all levels and to encourage an interest in

brain research. To execute this mission, SNOP collaborates with local New
York City schools to educate students in grades K-12 by imparting basic
fundamentals through discussion-based lessons and hands-on activities.

In accordance with the Society for Neuroscience Public Education and
Communication Committee, SNOP curriculum aims to familiarize students and
educators with a set of fundamental Neuroscience Core Concepts, which
focus on:
Developing an understanding of how the brain works
Encouraging students to integrate the scientific method into their thinking
about the brain
Increasing awareness of the importance of brain research

By focusing on these concepts, SNOP strives to help students understand the
importance of brain research and spark students interest in neuroscience.
More broadly, SNOP hopes to encourage students to think about careers in
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

SNOP programming is organized and executed by volunteers from within the
Mount Sinai community.
2014 SINAI BRAIN FAIR
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2013-2014 CLASSROOM VISITS
2013-2014 Expansion of the Sinai
Neuroscience Outreach Program
Sarah Motley, M.S.; Benjamin Chadwick: Lauren Friedman, Ph.D.; Benjamin
Glicksberg; Claudia Morris; Elisa Nabel; Catherine J. Pea, Ph.D.; Maria Pizzirusso,
M.P.H.; Jaclyn Rabkin; Federico dOleire Uquillas; Merina Varghese, Ph.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
MISSION STATEMENT


SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE
During 2013-2014, SNOP aimed to increase its web presence to promote events by
utilizing our already existing accounts on Wordpress, Facebook, and Twitter.
Figure 1. Chart showing number of views and visitors to SNOPs Wordpress blog (January 2012 April 2014).
Figure 2. Chart showing percentage of people who like SNOPs Facebook page who are male and female.
A.
2
0
1
3
C
u
r
r
e
n
t
0
25
50
75
100
125
150
#
o
f F
a
c
e
b
o
o
k
L
ik
e
s
Figure 3. A: Chart showing number of
Facebook likes during 2013 and 2014.
B: Chart showing number of tweets
mentioning @SinaiNeuro.
C: Chart showing number of tweets
from @SinaiNeuro account.
B.
C.
#
o
f t w
e
e
t s
m
e
n
t i o
n
i n
g
@
S
I n
a
i N
e
u
r o

#
o
f t w
e
e
t s
f r o
m
@
S
I n
a
i N
e
u
r o



PARTNERSHIP WITH NYAS
On Thursday, March 13
th
, 2014 SNOP held its 2
nd
Annual Brain
Awareness Fair, an event offering educational, hands-on activities and
demonstrations for adults and kids. It was held during Brain Awareness
Week, an international campaign supported by The Dana Foundation to
promote awareness of the brain and brain research. 30 events were held
across New York City from March 8th-16th by institutions and
organizations coming together under the umbrella of "BraiNY", organized
by the Greater New York City Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.

At Sinais 2
nd
Annual Brain Fair, over 60 volunteers from the Mount Sinai
community organized 20 activities to teach about the brain. Approximately
300 participants of all ages attended the Brain Fair this year, nearly half of
whom had never studied the brain before. This event brought together a
wide community from around Mount Sinai and New York city to engage in
neuroscience activities and lessons. Compared to the 2013 Brain Fair,
the 2014 Brain Fair had a 50% increase in volunteers, a 200%
increase in attendees, and a 50% increase in the number of activities
offered.
1
0
2
0
H
S
F
ie
ld
T
rip
3
0
4
0
5
0
6
0
7
0
8
0
9
0
0
20
40
60
80
100
No
Yes
"Have you studied the brain before?"
Total attendance
~300
Attendee Age
#
o
f P
a
r
tic
ip
a
n
ts
The Brain Fair was supported by the Center for Excellence in Youth Education at the
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, The Dana Foundation, The Friedman Brain
Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Greater NYC Chapter of
the Society for Neuroscience, and the Sinai Neuroscience Outreach Program.


Executive Committee: The 2013-2014 SNOP Executive Board consisted of 12
positions: President, Vice President, Postdoctoral Advisor, Faculty Advisor, 2
Outreach Committee members, 3 Curriculum Committee members, Brain
Awareness Week Coordinator, and 2 Social Media Managers. The 2013-2014
Executive Board had a 100% increase in members compared with the
2012-2013 Executive Board and 4 new positions were created.
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS
Build-a-Brain Taste Test Animal Brains Meet the
Experts
Egg Drop
Tic & Tourettes
Clinical Research
Program
Center for
Excellence in
Youth Education
Alzheimers
Disease
Research Center
Brain Injury
Association
Challenge Your
Brain
Optical Illusions

Alzheimers
Association
Dizzy Izzy Ask a
Psychiatrist
Addiction
Map Your
Homunculus
Decoding Your
Brain
See Inside Your
Brain
Reflexes Pipe Cleaner
Neurons
Table 1. Activities from the 2014 Brain Fair.


CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
SNOP would like to thank Eric Nestler, Veronica Szarejko, Daniela Schiller, and the rest of
the Friedman Brain Institute for their incredible support of our programming. We gratefully
acknowledge the faculty, fellows, students, and staff who have volunteered at our lessons or
in conjunction with the brain fair. We would also like to thank Alyson Davis of Sinais Center
for Excellence in Youth Education, Ann-Gel Palermo of Sinais Center for Multicultural and
Community Affairs, and Stephanie Wortel of the New York Academy of Sciences for helping
us to connect with local schools and groups. Lastly, we thank the Friedman Brain Institute,
Mount Sinais Student Council, the Dana Foundation Lending Library, and the Greater NYC
Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience for their financial support.
January 2012
July 2012
August 2012
July 2013
August 2013
June 2014
# of students
taught
238 337

424

# of lessons taught 10 16

55
Compared to the 2012-2013 school year, SNOP had a 350% increase in
lessons taught and a 25% increase in students taught. To date, SNOP
has taught 999 students and 81 lessons. This year we focused on
longitudinal lessons, hoping to help the students understand our curriculum by
teaching them over repeated visits. Lessons this year included sheep brain
dissections and construction of pipe cleaner neurons.
This year SNOP formed an official partnership with the New York Academy of
Sciences After school STEM Mentoring Program. Under this partnership, and
by competing 12 hours of training + 12 hours of teaching during the semester,
11 SNOP volunteers will receive the credential of New York Academy of
Sciences Teaching Fellow. We are thrilled for this partnership because it 1.)
provides SNOP the opportunity to use its multi-week lessons, 2.) gives SNOP
volunteers a credential that they can display on their CV, and 3.) provides
SNOP volunteers with afterschool lessons that are not available through our
partner schools in order to accommodate less-flexible work schedules.
In light of our success this year, SNOP is looking to further expand and
solidify our place within the Harlem community. With the help of Mount
Sinais Center for Excellence in Youth Education and the Center for
Multicultural and Community Affairs, next years SNOP leadership will
look to develop formal community partnerships with many of the
schools already served by these establishments. Our goal is to develop
the SNOP into a sustainable program that will continue to serve Harlem
students through strong, long-standing community partnerships. Next years
leadership will focus on piloting this program with five schools that express
interest in using the SNOP as both a resource for neuroscience education, as
well as a means to help students gain exposure to the sciences. From there,
the SNOP will continue to serve these schools on an annual basis with pre-
planned lessons that coincide with each schools already-existing curriculum.
We hope that, through the development of formal partnerships with these
schools, the SNOP can continue to grow and serve the community at
sustainable and effective pace.
This years Curriculum Committee had two goals: 1.)
develop a comprehensive 8-week lesson plan, and 2.)
adapt lessons to have age-appropriate content and
activities for K-12. Lessons packages include a lesson
plan, introductory presentation, and classroom handouts.
Lessons have been formatted for pre-K, grades 1-3,
grades 4-6, grades 6-8, and grades 9-12. Schools can
pick single- or multi-lesson formats. Lessons are designed
for resource limited settings.
Figure 4. Chart showing metrics collected from Brain Fair attendees to assess knowledge learned at the event.
Table 2. Number of lessons and students taught by SNOP broken down by year.