It's all fun and games until someone buys livestock. And that's exactly how yesterday's anatomy lab came to life! Wow, that was a bad pun. Sorry about that. Whoops!
Anyways...let's move on. Several homeschool mama's were chatting about curriculum choices and within a matter or moments, Twirly offered up her home for an anatomy lab. I had access to pig lungs because of my job and I had a frozen cow tongue in my freezer (because we purchased a quarter of a cow). Oh, the things that can happen when we start talking about all the things we have access to. I'm sure there were other details to the story, but this how it all came to light in my mind. *wink*
On Sunday afternoon, I took the cow tongue out of the freezer and gathered all of the materials for the lab scheduled for Monday. Mama Sunshine joked with me that having "take the tongue out of the freezer" written on my calendar was just plain weird. And wrong. But it is what it is. I needed to have a reminder so I wouldn't forget. Afterall, the kids were counting on me. (And again, this is how it all came to light in my mind. *wink*)
Monday morning came quickly and we were heading out the door at 7:30am to go to Twirly's house to get things set up. As soon as I arrived, Swiper came to swipe Sugar...but I handed her the tongue instead. Oh joy...you just never know what you're going to get into when Mama Sunshine arrives! hahahaha. Swiper was a good sport and she immediately asked to touch the tongue before it went into the boiling pot of water. (In case you hadn't already put the pieces together...the tongue was going to be eaten at the end of our lab day. Again, you just never know what's going to happen when the H Family arrives! *wink*)
Swiper swipes a tongue!
During the anatomy lab, I talked to the kids about our lungs and why we have them. We talked about the importance of breath and we discussed the importance of making healthy choices for our bodies. The kids got to see a set of healthy lungs and a set of lungs that were not healthy at all. Miss Venturesome worked with the kids on the anatomy of the eye (and she had ordered eyes to dissect but they did not come in prior to the lab). The kids got to watch an eye dissection online and Miss Adventuresome shared tons of information with the kids and they all seemed to find it fascinating. The kids had ample opportunities to ask questions and share stories. I think the presentation went well and the kids seemed to really be engaged! I had a great time working with the kids, that's for sure!
PQ gave me a hand pumping up the lungs.
Thanks again, PQ!
Hong Kong's son helped me with the unhealthy lungs.
I absolutely LOVE this picture. He is so focused.
In the middle of the lab, we discussed the SPINE.
(A little random...but it was all relevant in the end.)
The kids completed a STRAW experiment (that would show them how a smoker feels when they breath). Pretty powerful stuff!
My new BFF...thanks again to Miss B for helping me out!
(She was extremely gracious to help me out on demand. THANKS AGAIN!)
Introducing our cow tongue...
...up close and personnal...
...a HUGE thank you to the nurse in the room...without her, I don't know if I would have been able to peel the tastebuds off of the tongue...
...Hungry, anyone??!!??
(I couldn't bring myself to try it after preparing it. I know it's a delicacy for some, but I wasn't willing to go there.)
The Girl Next Door was the first person to give it a try. BRAVE GIRL.
(I had no idea she was the girl next door to Fenway! Hence the screen name for her.)
Watch the next few pictures closely! THEY ARE HYSTERICAL!
Rach (next to PQ) was PSYCHED about being able to try the tongue...
...until she got it in her mouth...
...As you can see, she was NOT IMPRESSED.
(Seriously...PRICELESS PICS!!!)
Did anyone LIKE the tongue?
These four DID!!!!
And these sixteen kids DID NOT!
But regardless, they ALL had fun and they ALL learned a lot from the anatomy lab!
It was a GREAT school day had by all, that's for sure!
