Bay Area Brain Bee

The countdown is on! 🧠⏱️

🐝 From November 7–12, 2025, national Brain Bee champions will gather virtually to compete in the International Brain Bee (IBB) World Championship — a global celebration of neuroscience, education, and connection.

🏆 Winners will be announced at Neuroscience 2025 in San Diego on November 15th, and the top five champions will earn a spot at the 2026 IBB NextGen Forum in Barcelona, an unforgettable mentorship and cultural exchange experience.

🧬 Since 1999, IBB has inspired thousands of students worldwide to explore the brain and pursue careers in neuroscience and medicine.

💡 You can help shape the future of neuroscience!
Become a sponsor and support this year’s championship ➡️ thebrainbee.org

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Deadline approaching for another science-related free program.

https://neurosmartlife.org/forecasting/

Good for college applications and better decision making!

NeuroSmartLife.org supports development of a healthy mind, especially for young people, through its support of International Brain Bee and Forecasting the Future Tournaments (FTF) by offering extra awards and conducting online and in-person mentoring sessions at different locations.

Forecasting the Future is hosted by the Alliance for Decision Education, a national nonprofit and field builder with the mission of improving lives by empowering students with the skills and dispositions to make better decisions. To learn more about the movement for Decision Education, please visit: alliancefordecisioneducation.org. To learn more about the Forecasting the Future tournament, please visit: https://alliancefordecisioneducation.org/teach/forecasting-tournaments/.

PARENTS – your students can join Forecasting the Future, a fun, interactive online tournament in which middle and high school students across the country compete by making predictions (forecasts) on real-world questions about music, sports, movies, and more!

NeuroSmartLife.org is excited to offer additional outside mentoring support and prizes to ensure students can learn and perform their best!

In addition to the Alliance’s grand prize of $2,500, along with other prize opportunities, NeuroSmartLife.org is giving an outside additional up to $1000 worth of awards to Bay Area students based on participation and scores.

Forecasting - NeuroSmartLife Free Mentored Program for Forecasting The Future High School & Middle School Students Good for college applications and better decision […]

We had 163 register for the 2025 Brain Bee. We then had 95 RSVP in March they were coming, and 54 said they would stay for lunch. We had 64 of the 95 RSVP show up Brain Bee, and of those 27 made it to Round after scoring 10/15 or better on the written quiz.

Congratulations to our winners today, Olivia Kim (1st; Henry M. Gunn High School), Arya Devanath (2nd; California High school), Larry Zhao (3rd; Basis Independent Silicon Valley), and to all the other participants who showed amazing knowledge of neuroscience. Our first place winner got 26/28 verbal questions correct., and that was after she qualified for the second round by getting more than 10/15 correct in the first round. All 3 received neuroscience books as awards, and Olivia has qualified to attend the 2025 USA Brain Bee Championship will be held on May 3-4 at Rutgers University.

The bee will be held Saturday March 15 from 10 am to ~1pm on the Hayward Campus of California State University East Bay.

Requirements:
To compete you must bring a guardian signed hard copy of both Waiver Form and the Video/Audio Image Release Form, which you can download from our website. We will have some unsigned copies on hand if you forget.
https://bayareabrainbee.weebly.com/register.html

All students must be accompanied by an adult. Any students without adult supervision will not be allowed to compete in the Bay Area Brain Bee.

Rules:
Basic info about the brain bee can be found at our website so check there first if you have questions. Keep in mind that the rules of the competition require that anyone in attendance may not possess any recording device (including pen and paper, phone, computer, voice recorder etc.),

Parents will be able to sit in a different room nearby. Please review the rules: https://www.dental.umaryland.edu/brainbee/for-the-coordinator/judging-guidelines/

Agenda:
The format of the competition will be in two rounds. Round one will be a multiple choice quiz. The top ~25 scoring students will move on to Round 2, with verbal questions, written answers (triple elimination). All answers are found in the Brain Facts book, free to download from our website.

9am to 9:45am - Check in with 2 forms filled out and receive name tags
10am - Introductory remarks
~10:15am - Round 1 (bring a # pencil or we have some)
~1045a - Remarks from our neuroscientist judges during grading of Round 1
~11am - Round 2
~12pm - Winners receive certificates and all participants enjoy snacks
~1:00 pm - Demos: magnetic field orientation & brain cell viewing & fly brain demo

Parking is free on weekends. We are not yet certain which building it will be in, but likely Meiklejohn Hall (MI) room 2064. You can find closest parking Lot B on the map linked here).

Prizes:
First, second, and third placed students will receive free books and certificates.
The first place winner will qualify to attend the 2025 USA Brain Bee Championship will be held on May 3-4 at the Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey
https://usabrainbee.com/

(NEW) BayBrainsSFN.org - San Francisco Bay Area Chater of Society for Neuroscience (SFN). PLEASE JOIN AND SUPPORT BayBrainsSFN.org using this link.

Additional Resources:
For more information please review the FAQ about the Brain Bee here:
https://bayareabrainbee.weebly.com/about.html

We want to offer snacks to the students who stay until the end, but we don't have parents in our budget. But if a parent would like me to order some extra samosas, please consider donating $5 to one of these accounts below and I will be sure to order some extras. Or let me know if you wish to donate some food.

My STEAM Team Welcome to My STEAM Team! (Ages 7–12) 🎉
We’re a community for curious kids and the parents who cheer them on.

✨ What you’ll find here:

🎥 How-To Videos – Kid-led, step-by-step STEAM activities you can try at home.

🖨️ Printables – Easy guides & checklists to make every project foolproof.

🛒 Amazon Favorites – Parent-approved supplies we actually use and recommend.

We share the ideas + the tools to make STEAM fun, simple, and screen-free.
👉 Explore more at https://mysteam.team

Are you interested in exploring career pathways in healthcare? Then this Hands-On Health: Paid Career Exploration Fellowship on April 7-9 might be for you! Learn more at https://making-waves.org/paid-career-fellowship/

This program in Richmond, CA is diving into nuclear medicine: a special type of medical imaging that helps doctors see what’s happening inside the body in real-time. You’ll gain real-world skills, connect with industry professionals, and tackle an authentic nuclear medicine challenge – all while getting paid.

The organizers (Making Waves Education Foundation) are seeking Contra Costa County youth aged 16-20 who are interested in a career in health, but no prior experience is necessary. Apply by March 7.

Got questions? Feel free to email [email protected]

New! - a virtual info session on Feb 23, 2025 (free) and preparatory workshops on March 1 and March 8 are made available with the support of BayBrainsSFN.org and NeuroSmartLife.org. Sign up below with this link. The workshops are $40 each, payable via the methods below. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfA3Byi4gf4dNfpiYGETy_TDDv1oN0UmOZQG-v8nLyaz5-Ylw/viewform

Want to support our volunteer work with students? We support Zelle:

Want to help support our volunteer work with students? We accept Venmo:

Venmo | Bay Brains SFN chapter Use Venmo to connect with Bay Brains SFN chapter () - Bay Brains SFN chapter sponsors neuroscience education & outreach in the SF Bay area. All proceeds support education. All our staff are unpaid.