Lawrence Hall of Science University of California, Berkeley

	What is Your Foot Doing? En Español
	Family Health Project Activity

1.	Print circle A, circle B, and number 6 from your browser.
2.	Sit down. Trace circle A with your foot. (counter clockwise)
3.	Trace the number 6 with your finger.
4.	Can you do both at the same time? Trace the 6 with your finger and circle A with your foot.
5.	Now trace circle B (clockwise) with your foot and trace the 6 with your finger. Can you do both at the same time?
6.	Try tracing the number 6 with your finger and use your other foot to trace circle A then circle B. What is your foot doing?

Your cerebellum is part of your brain that controls the coordination of voluntary movements, like walking, dancing, swimming, and writing. As an infant and young child you learned to coordinate these activities so you didn't have to "think" about the activities to do them.

When you write the number 6 you are making a circle in a counterclockwise direction. It's easy if your foot is going in the same direction but the opposite direction requires extra effort and thought. Most of us haven't trained our brain (or learned how) so that our cerebellum can coordinate our hands to make circles in one direction and our foot to make circles in the other.

©1998 by the Regents of the University of California, Lawrence Hall of Science
Family Health Project-Trial Version 1