What a Nice End to the Trimester!

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my anticipation of the fetal pig dissections and how I thought they might go. I was a little excited about the whole process, although I had my reservations. Well, now we're done dissecting and what an experience that was! I heard 15-20 times a day how much the pigs smelled and how gross they were. For the first time this trimester students weren't bringing food into the classroom, (easy to see why!) It was interesting to see which students had aversions to the pigs and which ones were okay with getting their hands dirty while exploring. The students who could get past the smell and see the experience as a unique opportunity to learn, really seemed to get something out of it! I think it was fun for them to get to see and feel organs and a body structure that is very similar to our own.

During the dissections, I took pictures of the kids working and the pigs in their full glory. By the time we were done I had about 50 pictures of the whole thing. Going with a well-advised suggestion of one of my co-workers, I used these pictures to have the kids make a quick video out of their experience. On their last day of class, I loaded the pictures onto two different computers and split the kids into groups. Using Animoto, an online program that mixes photos with text and music to make a video clip, my students were able to build some really cool videos of their dissections in about an hour and a half. The students had to pick 12-20 pictures of the dissected pigs and use them to present the excretory, circulatory, and respiratory systems. They broke the photos up into the correct body systems and introduced them with text about the system's parts and functions. Then they got to pick some music to coordinate the video to.

On Gallery Night, a night that showcases student progress and achievement to their families and the community, one of the videos was chosen to represent the A & P class. A couple of the girls presented it, and overall it was received very well! The idea of watching pictures of a dead pig with all of its body parts sprawled out being jazzed up with techno music may come across as a bit odd, but it really was a neat way to display their knowledge. The students enjoyed making the videos and now they have a final product-and all the memories that come with it-to put into their portfolios!