How Does Language Work?: A Classroom Presentation

Why are birds used to study language? Where is language located in the brain? Help your students answer these questions and more with this classroom presentation.

Synopsis

Language is a complex system involving many components. Studying language helps us learn about the brain regions responsible for language, and what goes wrong in language disorders. This power point and script will help you teach your students about language and the brain.

Objectives

At the end of this activity students will:

• Have a basic understanding about language and the brain.
• Understand the history of how language is studied.
• Be able to identify where in language is processed in the brain.
• Know some of the major language disorders and how they affect the brain.

Teacher Background

Download the Language Power Point presentation and script. Ask your students to follow along with the slides and take notes, while you read from the provided script.

For more information on language and the brain, show your students the videos Katie Tschida: From Telescopes to Microscopes and Your Babbling Brain, which took second place in the 2016 Brain Awareness Video Contest.

Integration into the Curriculum

• Health
• Biology, AP Biology
• Anatomy and Physiology

Materials Needed

• Script for Presentation

          Download, PDF file, 250KB      

• Presentation Slides

          Download, PPTX file, 878KB     

About the Author

Emma Lindberg

Emma is the former Outreach Associate at the Society for Neuroscience. She helped find and create Educator Resources for BrainFacts.org, as well as promote the site at conferences and events across the country.