As part of our PYP unit Who We Are, Awesome Squad is doing dissections on fish and mammals. The goal is for students to learn basic physiology and understand how their body affects their day to day lives. Connections are made between physiological processes in the digestive and respiratory systems and performance at school e.g. difference in breathing and blood sugar levels can affect mood and concentration. Dissections were made with respect for the animals donating their lives to our education.
Dissections are done in small groups. Students slowly remove skin and muscle tissue, taking care not to damage internal organs. The abdominal and then thoracic cavity carefully opened. Organs were cut away and examined under a microscope
Tina uses dissection scissors to cut through the rib cage to expose the heart and lungs.
Sydney exposes the stomach; it was later cut open and what the rat ate before it died was examined.
Elisha carefully skins the rat and notes the rib cage and sternum.
Students were surprised by the size of the liver. We stressed it's importance during a class discussion on the purpose of the different organs. Note the stomach and colon in the picture.
Elisha and I work carefully to find and remove the left kidney. We cut it open and were just able to identify the renal medula under the microscope.
One of the rats was female. We were able to expose the uterus and fallopian tubes.
With my help, students were able to cut through the skull and examine the brain.
Much of the brain structure was identifiable. Here the ocular nerves are easily seen.