Media releases

• Brock experts shed light on ways to engage children in solar eclipse

  Friday, March 08, 2024 | By Brock University

  EXPERT ADVISORY: March 8 2024 – R0026

  Experts from Brock’s Faculty of Education are encouraging educators and parents to take advantage of the rare learning opportunities that pair with the upcoming total solar eclipse.

  Brock Professors David Hutchison and Debra Harwood say the April 8 scientific event has the potential to spark lasting inspiration among students of all ages.

  This was certainly the case for Hutchison who has vivid memories of witnessing the last North American total solar eclipse in 1979 with his Grade 5 classmates.

  “It was one of the most formative experiences of my childhood and no doubt contributed to my wish to become a teacher,” he says. “It also inspired an early interest in science.”

  Harwood, whose research expertise lies in early childhood education curriculum and nature-based learning, echoes the importance of connecting youth to the solar eclipse.

  “Educators and parents should take advantage of this real-world event to foster children’s curiosity and connect them to this scientific phenomenon — starting with our youngest children,” she says.

  With many Ontario students expected to stay home April 8, Harwood suggests providing facts and an explanation about what they can expect, particularly for younger learners.

  Children should be encouraged to make predictions about why the phenomenon is happening and then provided with supports like games, crafts or experiments to reinforce eclipse concepts, deepening their learning experience.

  When it comes to younger children, Harwood says parents and educators should introduce the concept of the eclipse beforehand using books like Someone is Eating the Sun by Ruth Sonneborn or A Few Beautiful Minutes by Kate Allen Fox.

  Other kid-friendly activities that would benefit children include creating paper models showing the path of the sun, moon and Earth and playing games like ‘duck, duck, goose,’ which can easily be modified to ‘sun, sun, moon,’ she says.

  Hutchison says the eclipse can be effectively used as a tool to teach students of any age the concept of time and history. Activities could include visually mapping the timelines of eclipses, also marking the ages of the students on the timeline to show the relationship of their ages to past and future eclipses.

  “The concept of mapping eclipses also provides a timely opening for conversations about planetary and climate changes, tying in sustainability topics,” he says.

  Hutchison emphasizes the importance of leveraging the school curriculum to prepare students for what the eclipse will be like and equipping them with critical safety knowledge.

  After the celestial event, educators in all subject areas could draw on student reflections for discussion, he says.

  “Students can reflect on their experience of the eclipse in meaningful ways by making connections with the science and technology curriculum’s focus on space, mapping where the solar eclipse is visible from in social studies, and creating art depicting the eclipse in visuals arts,” he says.

  For high school students, Hutchison says there are opportunities to critically examine media coverage surrounding the event to strengthen media literacy skills.

  “With a significant cultural shift towards risk-aversion over the last several years, there is an interesting conversation to be had with students about how risks are communicated and received by parents and the general public, and how this has changed over time,” he says.

  Both Hutchison and Harwood emphasize the importance of youths experiencing the eclipse phenomenon first-hand, but with proper safety measures in place. These can be found on Brock’s Eclipse on the Escarpment web page.

  David Hutchison and Debra Harwood, Professors in Brock’s Faculty of Education, are available for media interviews on the topic.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Doug Hunt, Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Brock University dhunt2@brocku.ca or 905-941-6209

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock research exploring estrogen’s connection to late-onset Alzheimer’s in women

  Monday, March 04, 2024 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: March 4 2024 – R0025

  The answer to why women are almost twice as likely as men to develop late-onset Alzheimer’s disease may lie in hormones.

  With the help of federal funding, Rebecca MacPherson and her research team at Brock University are aiming to learn more about the link between the disease and a drop in estrogen in women.

  “Being a female is the second-greatest risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease,” says the Associate Professor of Health Sciences. “Most Alzheimer’s disease research focuses on males, so we don’t fully understand why females are at greater risk.”

  MacPherson and her team have made great strides in linking a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) to a biomarker in the brain that is related to Alzheimer’s disease.

  BDNF levels are lower in patients with Alzheimer’s — and also, in post-menopausal women, says MacPherson.

  To test out the association between estrogen loss and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, MacPherson and her team have received a $130,000 Biomedical Discovery Grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

  BDNF — which MacPherson calls “brain fertilizer,” because it helps maintain healthy brain cells, as well as grow new ones — can reduce the production of small proteins called beta-amyloid.

  Beta-amyloid clumps together and forms plaques in the brains of people living with Alzheimer’s disease. These plaques damage the brain by blocking cell-signalling processes, among other effects.

  The female hormone estrogen regulates BDNF levels, says MacPherson. But estrogen levels drop dramatically during the progression to menopause.

  MacPherson and her team will study if and how targeting BDNF signalling in post-menopausal females will prevent the production of beta-amyloid that lead to Alzheimer’s disease, and in the process, improve memory and maintain brain health.

  She says one of the easiest ways to increase BDNF is through physical exercise.

  “But for those who have physical or other limitations, it will be important to identify other methods that complement the benefits of exercise,” she says.

  “The majority of exercise-related research and recommendations are based on data collected from male participants,” says MacPherson. “However, males and females may respond differently to the same exercise or therapy, therefore, research should focus on alternative therapies that can reduce the detrimental effects of menopause.”

  The team will also study post-mortem human brain samples from male and female patients diagnosed with and without Alzheimer’s to further explore the differences in male and female brains.

  In addition to the greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease with the onset of menopause in females, the risk for other health conditions is also increased. One example is sarcopenia, an age-associated disease characterized by muscle wasting and weakness.

  “Interestingly, muscle can also regulate BDNF content in the brain,” says MacPherson, adding that part of the research will examine how menopause impacts muscle health, and how targeting muscle health in turn affects brain health.

  Working on this with MacPherson is Val Fajardo, Associate Professor of Kinesiology and Canada Research Chair in Tissue Re-modelling and Plasticity Throughout the Lifespan.

  Other team members that contributed to the grant include Kinesiology master’s student Bianca Marcella and Health Sciences master’s student Ahmad Mohammad.

  CIHR’s Biomedical Discovery Grant is a one-year, special opportunity under the National Women’s Health Research Initiative co-led by CIHR. The initiative aims to advance a co-ordinated research program that addresses under-researched and high-priority areas of women’s health.

  Categories: Media releases