ABSTRACT
This chapter includes information on the brain's role in sensory learning. Teachers who wish they could see inside their students’ heads will find vital information about what is going on in their brains. They will learn that information gathered through each of the five senses are food for the brain and why teaching and learning are especially powerful when accompanied by emotion and novelty facilitated by the senses. An overview of the anatomy of the brain describes the simultaneous processing of sensory information within the four lobes and ways they communicate with each other through electrical and chemical synaptic connections. The critical role of sensory stimulation on development and learning is shown through startling conclusions from two major studies conducted years apart on the brains of rats and orphans by neuroscientists participating in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project. Information on Helen Keller, blind and deaf, and a blind cyclist, Daniel Kish, who used echolocation to navigate mountain passes, illustrate how the other senses take over when one or more are missing. Schema theory, based on Bartlett's Ghost Story, shows the impact of cultural experiences on comprehension and learning. This chapter has multiple examples and activities for each of the five senses that contribute to STEAM learning: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. The online references at the end of this chapter contain QR codes.
