Every part of the brain has a job. The frontal lobe plans, the occipital lobe handles sight, the cerebellum keeps you balanced and the brain stem keeps you breathing. Put this 3D brain on the board and press a name: the view glides in, that part lights up and a box says what it does in plain words. Then turn it round to see the brain cut down the middle, with the parts deep inside.
The frontal lobe (with the prefrontal cortex at the very front), the parietal lobe, the temporal lobe and the occipital lobe, the wrinkly cerebral cortex over them all, the cerebellum tucked under the back, and the brain stem with the medulla at its lowest part.
The Outside and Inside switch turns the brain round to show it cut down the middle, side on: the corpus callosum, the thalamus, the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, the brain stem and the cerebellum's branching white tree. The amygdala and hippocampus sit deep in each side, not on the middle cut, so they glow through. Textbooks call this view a sagittal section: the brain cut from front to back and seen from the side.
The amygdala helps you spot danger, the hippocampus helps you make and keep memories, and the prefrontal cortex, right at the front, helps you plan and choose. Wellbeing lessons in primary schools often teach these three together, to explain what happens in the brain when big feelings take over. On the model the prefrontal cortex is in the box for the frontal lobe. Press Inside and the amygdala and hippocampus glow through from deeper in, because neither sits on the middle cut.
Press a name to zoom in and read what that part does. Quiz: press Labels once and every name hides behind a question mark until a pupil presses it. Turn the brain by dragging. Draw on the board with the pen, and print a pupil sheet with blank labels and a word bank, or the board as it is. Share copies a link that opens it on the side you are showing.
The words are pitched at ages 9 to 16: Years 5 to 11 in England, 4th to 10th grade in the United States. Primary wellbeing lessons teach the amygdala, the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex. In England it fits AQA GCSE Biology 4.5.2.2, which asks pupils to identify the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and medulla and say what each does, and 4.5.3.1, the pituitary gland. In the United States it supports NGSS MS-LS1-8.
Which part of the brain controls balance, breathing, memory and sight?
The cerebellum controls balance. The medulla, in the brain stem, controls breathing and heartbeat. The hippocampus helps make memories, and the occipital lobe at the back makes sense of sight. The temporal lobe makes sense of sounds and words, the parietal lobe makes sense of touch, and the frontal lobe does the thinking, planning and choosing. Deeper in, the hypothalamus keeps your body temperature steady and tells the pituitary gland, the master gland, what to do.
What are the cerebral cortex, cerebellum and medulla?
The cerebral cortex is the wrinkly outer layer of the brain: it does your thinking, remembering, talking and understanding. The cerebellum, tucked under the back of the brain, keeps movements smooth and balanced. The medulla, the lowest part of the brain stem, controls things you never have to think about, like breathing and how fast your heart beats.
Where are the amygdala and hippocampus?
Deep inside each side of the brain, in the temporal lobe. They are not on a cut down the middle, so the model shows them as a soft glow seen through. The amygdala helps you spot danger and is part of how you feel fear. The hippocampus helps you make new memories and find your way around.
What does the simulation show?
The left half of a brain in 3D. Its outside looks just like a whole brain from the side, with the four lobes, the cerebellum and the brain stem. The Inside switch turns it round to show it cut down the middle, with the corpus callosum, thalamus, hypothalamus and pituitary gland. Press any name to zoom in and read what that part does.
What has been simplified?
The lobe borders are drawn where the main grooves are; in a real brain the lobes blend into each other. The parts on the cut face are coloured so they are easy to tell apart. The fluid spaces inside the brain and some smaller parts are left out.
What age is it for?
The words are pitched at ages 9 to 16: primary wellbeing lessons about the amygdala, hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, through to GCSE biology.
Is it free?
Free to try. Opening Science Simulations uses one token for the whole day, however many times you come back to it. Every account gets 20 free tokens, and Pro gives 50 a day.
The heart, the lungs, the digestive system and the phases of the Moon are in Science Simulations, and the brain pairs well with the reflex arc simulation, the neuron 3D model and the eye simulation. For models the class can spin, from skeletons to dinosaurs, try 3D Explorer.