2nd year Advanced Science recently had some exciting lessons in Biology Class. A heart and lung dissection observation and a hands-on chicken wing dissection!

On the 6th of February, students had the opportunity to observe a pig’s heart and lungs, in order to get hands on experience in learning about the structure of the heart and lungs and differences between cardiac and alveoli tissue, through an inquiry-based approach. At first, a number of students felt overwhelmed, as many had never seen organs before, but over the course of the lesson, students warmed up to the experience and became more interested in learning more about how blood flows through the heart and how the lung tissue expands and retracts during inspiration and expiration. This lesson was followed up with a critical thinking skills task, based on a case study related to the dissection, where students had to predict any observable and unobservable changes in a future autopsy, which many students enjoyed.  

Two weeks later, on the 17th and 20th of February, students had an opportunity to do a dissection practical. This time they were asked to dissect a chicken wing in order to reveal the connections between muscles, tendons, bones and cartilage. Everyone followed the instructions closely and were able to correctly identify the muscle that caused the wing to bend. It appears that in 2nd year, we have many surgeons and veterinarians in the making.