|
STC PROGRAM Update
Summer 2003
STC/MS™ Teaching Tip:
Human Body Systems
Carolina consultant Rita Schena of Haverhill,
Massachusetts, has created an additional way to help students learn about
the digestive tract in the STC/MS™ module, Human Body Systems.
Lesson 2, Inquiry 2.1 “Moving Right Along,” helps
students understand how long the digestive system really is. During the
inquiry, students squeeze a vegetable oil-soaked tennis ball through plastic
tubing to illustrate how food moves through a person’s digestive tract.
However, the tennis ball goes in and comes out still looking like a tennis
ball, so Schena suggested taking the activity one step further. Have
students perform the inquiry a second time using the same plastic tubing,
this time replacing the tennis ball with a large, cooked, baking potato. The
fact that the large potato breaks up makes the point that food is changed as
it goes through the digestive track, explained Schena, which is a more
accurate simulation of peristalsis. The potato does not travel the entire
length of the tube like the tennis ball does, but it is enough to give a
visual of swallowed food breaking up into smaller pieces. These additions
went very well in training sessions Schena has conducted, and she stated:
“Teachers and students alike have really responded to this slight
modification.”
Another teacher tip relates to the reading
selections found in the Human Body Systems Student Guide. Schena
reviewed the questions found in the module’s 3 section assessments and
referenced them back to the readings and lessons. What she discovered was
the importance of the readings to student preparedness for the assessments.
“It pointed out to the teachers I was training that the readings are not to
be taken lightly, but contain important content material and should be done
thoroughly and thoughtfully. They need to think about the readings as a
critical component to the unit,” she said.
<< Return to the
previous page |
