Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Teaching the youngest anatomists

1999; Wiley; Volume: 257; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/(sici)1097-0185(19990815)257

1097-0185

Joy S. Reidenberg,

Medical Education and Admissions

When your child comes home from elementary school and says “I told everybody that you could teach us all about bones,” do you cringe with fear that the next telephone ring will be the teacher requesting a command performance in the classroom? You ponder the possibility that maybe you could actually do this and even enjoy it, after all you ARE a professional teacher, right? The only problem: you're used to graduate and medical students who already know that a skull isn't just a Halloween prop. You imagine a scenario where you're singing “the hip bone's connected to the thigh bone, and the thigh bone's connected to the knee bone,” etc. OK, maybe that's a bit too easy, you think. How about some real bones—after all, they love “show-and-tell” in elementary school, right? Then you have a sudden nightmare that your child's classmates will never stop teasing your child for having a character from a grade B horror movie for a parent. Either that, or an angry mob of parents of other children will start protesting that someone was preaching Witchcraft in the school. What's a devoted parent to do? As an Anatomist, I firmly believe in educational outreach at all levels. We have an obligation to share our knowledge with the public1, 2. It's true that most of us spend our time dropping educational pearls to medical and graduate students, but few of us take the time out of our busy schedules to volunteer to teach at the undergraduate, high school, or even elementary school level. While most of us know that it is important to reinforce an interest in science among elementary school children, many of us fear doing just that, feeling that we are not qualified for the job. Actually, if you are a parent, you are already qualified, and having a Ph.D. only makes you over-qualified. Probably, all you really need is a boost of confidence and a few hints from someone who has done it. While most of us know that it is important to reinforce an interest in science among elementary school children, many of us fear doing just that, feeling that we are not qualified for the job. The child's teacher is your best guide in planning the visit. The teacher will know where your presentation will fit best within the established science curriculum. If the timing is open, I suggest that the best time of year to capture an elementary school student's interest in the human body is in October, as Halloween is first and foremost on their minds. Every school child will recognize what a skeleton is, particularly the skull. Most young children will have no idea what it is really made of, how it's put together, or what it does. In fact, some will even express shock at the thought that there's one inside their own body! Steer clear of any references to death, as some children are particularly fearful of this at this time of year. Children hate lectures. To capture a child's interest, you must be interactive. Think of your presentation not as a lecture, but a demonstration. Do bring lots of “show-and-tell” and plan on allowing the children to get a hands-on experience—more like a “show-and-feel” with plenty of “questions-and-tell” thrown in. Make sure to include objects that can be handled, passed around, and even dropped without fear (e.g., plastic bones and models). Do not be tempted to bring an entire set of real human bones or items that are greasy or smelly from the Gross Laboratory! It is important to work with the teacher in refining the specifics of your presentation. Find out the students' knowledge base. Will this be their first introduction to the human body or skeleton, or will your demonstration be planned to “wrap-up” the topic as a review? Some teachers will have limitations, such as whether real human or animal material may be brought into the classroom. Go over your presentation outline with the teacher to be sure you are not touching on any “forbidden topics” (e.g., the reproductive tract may be too sensitive a topic for elementary school children, or an evolutionary discussion may have to be put into appropriate context with religious school students). Be sure to ask the teacher about any students with special needs that you should be aware of. This will avoid embarrassment. For example, I once called on a 5th grade student who volunteered to answer how many vertebrae humans have. It turned out that this student was mentally challenged, and was unable to count sequentially on the plastic model he was holding in front of him. For some children, the human skeleton is too scary by itself, but eating meat is usually no problem. Since most children are familiar with their dog Fido's cow bone, I suggest using this opportunity to introduce them to some comparative anatomy. Go to a local butcher and ask for a cow's femur, and also save a femur from the next chicken or turkey you eat. Most children have eaten poultry thighs, and thus can relate to these bones. Bring in these objects and compare them to the human femur before going headlong into the full human skeleton. Dr. Reidenberg (in black skeleton shirt) teaching fifth grade students at the Northeast International Magnet Elementary School in Montclair, New Jersey. Here she is inviting them to verbalize any differences they have noticed between the thick, load-bearing tibia and the slender and more laterally placed fibula. To help them remember the difference, she jokingly nicknames the fibula the “fibbing” bone because it fibs (lies) about carrying the weight. In the background, the students sitting under the flag can be seen passing around the turkey, cow, and human femurs. Dr. Reidenberg helps a student place the 12th rib in its correct position. The students gathered closer to the black paper each hold a rib and await their turn to place it on the skeleton. One way I've introduced the children to the skeleton is to involve them in an activity that introduces each bone separately. Using a large piece of black paper (the teacher often supplies this) and chalk, I have someone volunteer to draw an outline of me (or I draw the teacher, if the teacher is willing). Note: there may be some giggles as the chalk approaches the groin—but don't worry, they'll soon get over it. Next, I give each student or pair of students a plastic human bone from a life-sized disarticulated human skeleton kit (available at most medical schools). Make sure you have enough bones to go around, or dispense the bones to small groups of students so no one is left out. Introduce each bone by its proper name and help the students to lay them out one by one within the chalk outline, in order to assemble a skeleton before their eyes. It's best to work from axial to appendicular, pointing out where the joints are. I like to demonstrate how each joint functions by bringing some articulated, wired bones, particularly for the extremities. I also demonstrate the joints on myself and ask the class to do so on themselves as well. Whenever possible, use multimedia formats. For example, if your demonstration is on bones, bring an X-ray viewing box and several radiographs. If no X-ray box is available, the overhead projector (which most schools actually have) works just as well. For soft anatomy, bring X-rays with contrast medium. Steer clear of MRI or CT scans, as these are nearly impossible for the untrained student to interpret. If you want to add a spark, don't just bring normal x-rays. Include something dramatic, such as a broken bone. If possible, compare the initial fracture to the healed bone afterwards, or to one that has been reduced with metal implants. Older children will be fascinated by comparing X-rays of a skull with metal earrings, braces, or silver dental fillings to those of a skull with bullet fragments. Children who are too timid if called upon by a stranger that singles them out to answer a question will love to participate as part of a group. My advice here is to plan a motor activity that aids in understanding the lesson. For example, a demonstration on the heart could include two minutes of jumping jacks. Afterwards, have the children sit down and feel their carotid pulse. There's no better way to introduce children to anatomy than to have them see or feel it on themselves. In this manner, they begin to appreciate living functional anatomy. Try to include an exercise that makes them find a body part in a non-sensitive area of the body. For example, a presentation on muscles and joints could ask them to feel their ankles or knuckles, and then teach them what makes up those protrusions. Children love easy mysteries. I was able to capitalize on this when a child in my daughter's class found a mandible from an unknown animal and brought it to school for “show-and-tell.” I didn't miss this opportunity to turn this into a comparative anatomy lesson on dental morphology and diet. I brought in an array of animal skulls with their mandibles, divided them into carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores. I explained how the dentition relates to their diets, and then had the children compare the found mandible with the skulls before them. They voted, and were very pleased to learn that they had correctly identified the mandible as belonging to a deer, with the sheep as a close second possibility. This process of observing and comparing was then related to how paleontologists identify dinosaur bones—something every child wants to learn more about! Children have a fairly short attention span, and will get restless after an hour. Very young children will sit for half an hour, while older ones may want to keep you there well past an hour answering their questions. If the teacher is flexible, then my advice is to plan a half hour lesson, and leave the extra time for the children to pass around the objects and ask questions. Many times, I have thought about giving out a treat to the children to thank them for their attention. Unfortunately, it is difficult to distribute candy treats, particularly with the possibility of food allergies and dietary restrictions. My own style is to give each child a small plastic skull ring as a keepsake. These rings are very inexpensive, and can usually be found in novelty stores around Halloween. The children love the gift, and use it afterwards as a reminder of their new appreciation for the skull—not only as a Halloween prop, but as a wonderful part of their own body that really isn't so scary after all. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York University in New York. Her primary research interests are in the comparative anatomy of the respiratory tract and skull and the mechanisms of sound generation in mammals, particularly cetaceans. She is the 1999 winner of the Basmajian/Williams & Wilkins Award of the American Association of Anatomists. An avid educator, she teaches human gross anatomy to medical and graduate students, participates in teaching anatomy in clinical residency, fellowship, and postgraduate/continuing medical education programs, and volunteers to teach anatomy and animal biology to school children in her spare time.