Learning Science by “Heart”

Learning is the result of a variety of applications: reading, writing, memorizing, visualizing, and hands on experiences.  The AFA middle school science students have experienced all these in studying the amazing, human circulatory system this fall.

To help build an appreciation of the knowledge, the students visited the National Health and Science Museum in Washington, D.C.  The experience was moving in many ways.

The students were given the option of viewing and holding real human specimens. The museum features battlefield medicine from as early as the Civil War through the war in Iraq. By learning about the preservation of lives as a result of circulatory system knowledge and advancements in medical technology, the students were encouraged to engage in the wonder of scientific progress.

Back at school, the students ended the series of lessons with a hands-on investigation of real sheep hearts and a cow heart. The curiosity of our middle school students rose to a new high as they explored, probed, dissected, and carefully identified the different parts of the organs in their hands.

The student’s assessments proved that there are many ways to enliven interest in a new subject, engage the mind and enable lasting comprehension.