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  1. Ivy did a great job with her steam project. The animations throughout her story were wonderful works of art that you can tell she put a lot of thought, effort and creativity into. I’m sure how she made the animations but well done, Ivy!

    I believe the objective(s) Ivy covered could be “Explain how neurons carry an electrical charge” and/or “identify the various components and key structures of the nervous system”. Ivy’s story tells us a tale about aliens who came to earth and were wondering about this disease they had not encountered. The aliens learn about the changes that occur in the brain when a person has Alzheimer’s Disease. Ivy explains that this disease comes with many symptoms including memory loss, difficulty with every day tasks, losing track of times, dates and locations, misplacing items and poor short term memory. She also states that the disease progresses slowly and has three stages (early, middle and late). Every person experiences the symptoms and stages differently. She goes on to explain exactly what happens in the brain when someone develops Alzheimer’s. She states this begins when the disease destroys neurons and their connections. These specific neurons in the beginning are located in entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus and are in charge of memory. She states that later on the disease affects the cerebral cortex which are in charge of language reasoning and social behavior. She also tells us that the neurons of a diseased brains contain blacked and tangles. There are great illustrative comparisons of a healthy brain versus the diseased brain of someone with Alzheimer’s in various states as well as an illustrations of a normal brain’s neurons and a diseased brain’s neurons that contain plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. She ends by telling us there are hopes for future solutions to this disease thanks to AI technology.

    I loved this project and thought Ivy did a great job!

    Seaira Jacques

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