We are building a model of the human body in our
classroom. As we look at our new
friend, “Skelly”, laid out before us on the floor, we consider what materials
we could use to represent the systems we are learning about. We have begun to represent the skeletal
system, and we will soon add some musculature. When we gather to build our human model we call it “Medical
School”. There is such a palpable
level of excitement and engagement in this process. The children are highly motivated to create Skelly and they
are employing their communication and collaboration skills as they work
together to decide on which materials to use and where to put them.
Our human body study is providing us with opportunities to
incorporate authentic mathematical and literacy skills development. We will be continuing our study of
measurement as we determine the height and weight of our bodies. We will reference our earlier study of
graphing as we make charts showing the relative height and weight of our
classmates. In art class, the children are making models of the skeleton of the human hand, making sure that they have the 27 bones of the hand in the right place. We found out that there are 12 ribs on each side of the sternum. 12 +12 = 24 ribs altogether! The question was asked, "How many bones are above the pelvis?". We applied our knowledge of the skeletal system to determine that there are 26 bones in each foot (52), a tibia, fibula, patella, and femur in each leg (8), and a pelvis (1). Therefore there are 61 bones in the lower half of the body. We also learned that there are 206 bones in the human body. Subtracting 61 from 206, we calculated that there are 145 bones above the pelvis! Neil’s mom, Miriam
Lango, a head and neck surgeon, came to speak with us about the
nervous system. Before her visit
we created a class book of questions about the nervous system. Each child wrote their own page
for this book. This allowed us an opportunity to
introduce the proper spelling of the question words (who, what, when where, why
and how). We are also busy labeling items in our hospital and the parts of the Skelly's body.
When skills development is embedded in the study of an area
of genuine interest, the children maintain their joyful motivation for
learning.
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