OUTLINE

I. Introduction
A. How is your brain important?
II. What does the brain control?
A. Body parts
B. Five senses
C. Learning, thinking, and emotions
III.Parts of the brain
A. Cerebellum
B. Brainstem
C. Cerebral cortex
D. Thalamus
E. Hippocampus
F. Frontal lobes
G. Parietal lobes
H. Speech area
I. Hypothalamus
J. Eyes
IV.How does the brain control our bodies?
A. Brain, spinal cord, and nerve cells
B. Messages it sends and how
V. Conclusion

THE BRAIN
by Trip Adler
The brain is the most complex and important organ in
our body. It controls most of the organs in our body and
makes us alive. It makes us move, think and remember. It
also controls our sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. In
this report you are going to read about the parts of the brain
and the way it controls our body. Since the brain has so
many parts, this report focuses alot on the visual system to
show show how the brain is organized.
The brain controls all the organs in our body except the
liver and the spleen. Also, the brain controls our muscles
which gives us the ability to move. The left side of our brain
controls the right
side of our body and the right side of our brain controls the
left side of our body.
The brain is divided into parts. Each part controls a
different part of our body. In the back lower part of the brain
is the cerebellum, which is latin for little brain. It controls our
balance and athletic abilities. At the base of our brain is the
brain stem. It connects the brain to the spinal cord and
controls our cranial nerves.

The largest part of the brain is the cerebral cortex. It

includes every part of the brain except for the eyes,
hypothalmus, cerebellum and brain stem. Most of the
functions of the brain are performed by the cerebral cortex.
The cerebral cortex is so big that it is divided into parts also.
One part is called the thalamus. It controls the sensations of
pain and tempature. Another part is the hippocampus. It
provides our memory. The frontal lobes make our body
move. The parietal lobes give us the ability to feel things
against our skin. The last part of the cerebral cortex that is
in this report is the speech area which helps us talk and
listen.
In the middle of the brain is the hypothalamus. The
hypothalamus regulates our digestion, thirst, hormones, body
tempature, and blood presure.
The last part of the brain you are going to read about
are the eyes. They are suspended away from the brain but
are still connected by the optic nerves. Forty percent of the
brain is involved in giving us the ability to see. Light is
focused by the cornea and lense onto the retina which is in
the back of the eyeball.
The retina contains special light sensitive cells. These cells
are called rods and cones. The rods function best in the dark
and see black and white, and the cones give us color vision.
The light gives energy and excites certain molecules that

generate small amounts of electricity. The molecules send

small electric currents from the retina, through the optic
nerves, to the visual cortex in the back of the brain.
Connected to the bottom of your brain is your spinal
cord. It is a long tube that goes down to your lower back. It
is made of nerve fibers and nerve cells. The spinal cord is
connected to many nerve fibers which are like thin wires that
go out to your arms and legs. Some nerves send messages
into the brain and others send mesages to our body parts.
The messages are sent with small amounts of electricity
which travel at about two hundred miles per hour. An
example of this is when you touch something hot. Your finger
will send the message through the nerve fibers, up the spinal
cord and to the brain. Then the brain sends a message down
the spinal cord, through the nerve fibers and to the finger, to
move it away. This responce is also a example of reflexes.
The brain is the most important organ in our bodies and
this report would have never been written if it wasn't for my
brain. I used my eyes, visual cortex and speech area to read
the information. I used my hippocampus to remember what I
read. I used my frontal lobes to be creative and organize my
report and I used my speech area and frontal lobes to write
the words down.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adler, John interviewed by Trip Adler, Stanford University
Hospital, Stanford, CA, 7:00 pm, January 26, 1995.
Baldwin, Dorthy and Lister, Claire, Your Brain and Nervous
System, Pub., The Bookright Press, New York, 1984.
Ficher, George S., The Human Body, Pub., Western Pub. Co.
Inc., 1977, (pp. 35-42).
Look Inside Your Brain, Pub., Grosset and Dunlap Inc., 1990.