Middle School Classroom Chronicle

Students have explored the nervous system and brain through a variety of explorations around nerve impulses, as well as the processing responsibilities of different parts of the brain. We then took a dive into vision and the eye, and we’re just transitioning into the skeletal system.

Students have learned experientially how we all have a blind spot at the back of our eye, and we calculated its size based on empirical data. They learned what our peripheral vision can detect and what it can’t detect at different angles away from one’s forward focus. They learned how our eye-brain system is doing a lot not just to see, but also to interpret what we see.

As we explore the skeletal system, we have also just launched a project that students will develop and complete over the remainder of the Human Body Systems unit. Specifically, students are working in small groups to become experts on a human body system at a deeper level than we get to through our whole-class activities and labs. They will move through stages in this project as we move through the rest of the unit, and it will culminate in a carefully constructed and highly informative slide deck that they will share with their classmates. Looking forward, the cardiovascular system is next, during which students will do a challenging exercise to create a functioning model of the circulatory system using aquarium tubing, water bottles, hose clamps, hot glue guns, and all manner of other materials. It’s a memorable project.