Eureka Inspirements for January

Quiz to Check your Understanding
Here are some questions for you to go through to see how you have done in your study.  As you study what interests you, you may or may not have found the answers to these questions.  It is OKAY if you don't know them all, and it doesn't mean you didn't do a good job in your study, but you will want to find out about these certain basic things.  We will go over them in class as well, and I may throw a legal addictive stimulant at you if you know the following:

Muscular System:

Muscles are tissues that can blank along their length.

Muscles can only pull blank.

Muscles usually work in blank to move the body.

There are three types of muscle tissue in the body.

1.     blank muscles are muscles you control for movement.

2.     blank muscle causes movements that you cannot control.

3.     blank muscle is involuntary muscle found only in the heart.

Skeletal System

The hardest part of a bone is called blank  bone.

The soft and spongy ends of a bones and called blank bone.

The spaces in spongy bone are filled with blank.

A joint is where two bones meet.

The four kinds movable joints are: blank

Blank is a tough, flexible connective tissue that makes up part of the skeletal system.

The skeletal system has many important jobs, including protecting organs, and making blank blood cells.

 

Digestive System:

Blank is the process by which foods are changed
 so they can be used by the body.

Most of the chemical digestion of food takes place in the Blank intestine.

The small intestine has Blank(little hairs) make a large surface area for the food to be absorbed into the blood.

 

Gastric juice contains mucus, Blank, and Blank and is produced by the stomach.

Blank protects the stomach. so it doesn't get eaten by the acid. 

 

The Blank releases digestive juices into the small intestine to break up starch, protein, and fat.

The Blank produces bile which digests fats and oils.  Bile is stored in the Blank

 Cells:

 

Blank in a cell occurs when substances move in and out of a cell.

The cell Blank lets only some substances move in and out of the cell.

Blank is the movement of water through a membrane.

 

The three main parts of the cell are Blank Blank Blank

 

Do you know the  parts of the cell and their functions?:

Nucleus

Chromosmes

Cytoplasm

Cell Membrane

Mitochondria

Vacuoles

Ribosomes

Golgi Body

Endoplasmic Reticulum

Lysosomes

 

 

Apprentice:

I have been thinking about Eureka: ways to increase learning, enjoyment and freedom to pursue that which interests you.  I would like to try something different this month.  Rather than me perusing the internet for the best readings and videos for you, and creating a checklist of sorts (boo!), I would like to turn  this over to you.

This month you are to go to the library; whichever library your family uses is great.  Go to the non-fiction section (I personally prefer the Junior Non-Fiction section) and get books on the body, specifically cells, bones and muscles, and digestive system. I always get books that are not too simple of course as some will be for little kids. I get books that go pretty deep, but still have lots of pictures :)  Get several books, 10 or so.

Scour the books.  Take notes if that is how you learn best.  Sketch if that is what you like to do.  You know how you learn best, so implement the things that you know work for you in regards to understanding and memory.

Spend 4-5 hours reading your books and make sure that you read some on cells, bones and muscles, and the digestive system.

I will send out a "quiz" on the Tuesday afternoon before Eureka class.  Take the quiz.  See how you did in your study.  You may find there are things you didn't read about and you can then go back and fill in the blanks.

The only inspirement besides reading, is that you do a project showing something you have learned:  maybe you'll choose to memorize 50 bones in the body, maybe you will take playdough and create and awesome sculpture of the digestive system,  maybe you will write a creative story on how muscles and tendons work together to move bone.  Bring it to Vanguard to share.Do something you will enjoy!

NOTE: 

Adrianna was reading a book on the skeletal system and came to me and said, "There is a section on exercise.  Do I need to read this?"  So I answered her by saying, "Are you interested in that?  If so, read it.  If not, move on." 

People!  The beauty of what we are doing this month is this: Read the things that interest you in regards to skeletal, digestive and muscular systems.  If a section does not interest you move on. 

Okay with that being said, make sure you challenge yourself.  For example, I would bet that most of you have a pretty good grip on the digestive system:  large and small intestine, pancreas, liver, etc.  But, I bet most of us don't know much about the chemical breakdown of our food, etc.  So, that might be where you would want to put your focus. 

Adrianna also said, "It is crazy how many glands squirt out juices that aid in the breakdown of food."  Aaahhh yes.  She is getting it.  She told me about the duodenum and the purpose of bile and other "juicy" things.  (Aren't I funny?")

With love to you all!!  Enjoy your study.

Journeyman:
Certainly after reading all of those books in apprentice there will be something that peaked your interest. Something that made you want to know more.  It can be anything to do with the body.  Expand that.  Learn more.  Research.  Become an expert on that particular topic. 

Think "Science Fair Project" maybe, in that you create something really awesome to show us, and find a great way to teach us about what you learned.  You need to invest some time in order to be successful in this.  My hope is that this will be fun and exciting  for you as you find the topic that makes you want to know more!

Be prepared to share with the group.  Visual aids, demonstrations, etc. are vital here people.  Make sure you include those in your presentation.

Does that make sense?  There is a project in apprentice on what you learned in apprentice work.  This project is something you are interested in that has to do with the body.  Tons of freedom here!  The sky is the limit.  If you can't find anything to do your project on, call me, as I had about 50 ideas as I have been reading.

(Oh!  By the way, this day of creation is actually fish, fowl, insects, animals, so if anyone's interests lie specifically in the anatomy of an animal feel free to go that direction.  I guess I am concentrating more on humans because there is so much awesome stuff to study that we need at least two months.... Hello?  More like two years :)




Master:  The master book for this month is Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. This is the book we postponed a few months ago so we are now back on schedule for our reading.

I think you will love this book.  I got a little bored about 3/4 of the way through though.  Has anyone noticed this seems to be a pattern with me?  But, I felt the story was told well before it ended.  If you find yourself getting impatient a few chapters before the book ends, feel free to stop there.  Enjoy!

As you read, notice the principles that Ben Carson and his mother lived by.  Write them down.  Consider these same principles and whether they are being implemented in your life.  How about your education?  Where can you improve?  Where do you feel you are doing well?  Be prepared to discuss.

Testimonials for BodyWorlds

Testimonials:  For and Against

Someone you know as a Plastinate

  

1. Look carefully at the positions of those quoted below .

2. Which arguments can be used respectively for and against the BODY WORLDS 2 exhibition?

3. Are the arguments conclusive? (Test them if necessary by drawing on further reading.)

4. Consider what motivates a donor to allow his body to be plastinated for an exhibition.

5. Consider how the friends and relatives of the donor feel.

Positions of visitors and non-visitors1

“What tastelessness and irreverence will people come up with next to “get rich quick”? Can they

not imagine how the friends and relatives of the deceased feel? But I think that Gunther von

Hagens understands nothing of “sympathy”, and “stopping at nothing”. As can be judged by the

780,000 visitors at Mannheim, there are enough sheep everywhere to go along with him. I would

advise these people and the exhibitors, if they are so curious to see dead bodies, to go into war

zones.”

 

Gertrud Holzki, Cologne

“I think that the exhibition is simply fantastic because it teaches us about the inner anatomy of

the human body. You can read a hundred books on anatomy and look at hundreds of pictures,

but how the organs really look, and where and how they are positioned, can only be seen in this

genuinely fascinating exhibition. I also think that it‘ s great that bodies can be conserved for a

very, very long time in this way. This is useful for training doctors or even enlightening us, the lay

people. We can see ourselves in the plastinates.”

 Rita Gilberg, Koblenz

“I do not think that it is educational because the bodies are not displayed in natural positions.

The way Hagens does it, it‘ s not physiologically correct. The people are not just taken apart, but

the layers are pulled apart. Afterwards we don‘t know what the body really looks like from inside.

Reality is distorted, and the people are only put on show. This exhibition is about voyeurism, and it

has nothing to do with striving after medical knowledge.”

 

Daniela Klinger, Cologne

“I don’t agree with the statement that BODY WORLDS is a corpse show. It is a great credit to

people when they put themselves at the disposal of science after their deaths. Perhaps this

exhibition will cause an increased respect towards service to humans, as offered by doctors,

nursing staff or the fire brigade.”

 

Silke Ebert, Cologne

“I am looking forward to this exhibition a lot. Even as a child I looked up in the encyclopedia what

people look like from inside. I also watch operations on the television for hours at a time. I find

it totally fascinating. And the horror effect of a show like this is surely the same as looking at a

cathedral crypt in which a dead bishop is buried.”

 

Sascha Arnz (German TV Producer, “Wetten, dass ... ?”)

“If respect for the dead is maintained in the display, I find it very interesting. I will definitely be

viewing the exhibition. I hope that it will cause people to change their attitude towards the body

and perhaps treat it a little better, when they see how often it is abused. A little shock like that can

sometimes be helpful. ”

 

Joey Kelly (“Kelly Family”)

“No, I am not going to the exhibition. Because death is not for use as a kind of trendy

exhibitionism. I see this unsuccessful attempt at obscenely making eternal what is transient as

nothing more than grave-robbing and show-business with horror under the pretext of breaking down

taboos.”

 

Günter Wallraff, author

“I find an exhibition like this unnecessary. There are enough cut-up bodies, even cross-sections of

bodies, for the medically-inclined to see in the anatomical institutes of university clinics. A corpse

show like this does nothing for art. It just adds to the horror factor. I don’t need to see it.”

 

Heinz Zolper, Cologne-based painter who designed the title page

of the millennium edition of EXPRESS newspaper

Frequently Asked Questions for BodyWorlds

Frequently Asked Questions

 

What is BODY WORLDS?

The BODY WORLDS exhibitions are first-of-their-kind exhibitions through which visitors learn about

anatomy, physiology, and health by viewing real human bodies, using an extraordinary process called

Plastination a groundbreaking method for specimen preservation invented by Dr. von Hagens in 1977.

Each exhibition features more than 200 real human specimens, including whole-body plastinates,

individual organs, organ configurations and transparent body slices. The specimens on display stem
from the body donation program that Gunther von Hagens established in 1983.

 

The exhibitions also allow visitors to see and better understand the long-term impact of diseases, the

effects of tobacco consumption and the mechanics of artificial supports such as knees and hips. To
date, nearly 25 million people around the world have viewed the BODY WORLDS exhibits.

 

What is the purpose of the exhibition?

The BODY WORLDS exhibitions aim to educate the public about the inner workings of the human body
and show the effects of poor health, good health and lifestyle choices. They are also meant to create
interest in and increase knowledge of anatomy and physiology among the public.

Couldn’t I learn just as much from books or models of human anatomy?

Real human bodies show the details of disease and anatomy that cannot be shown with models. They

also allow us to understand how each body has its own unique features, even on the inside. Visitors
are drawn to real specimens in a way that they are not to plastic models. One of the special features of museums and science centres is that they offer people a chance to see the real thing in a safe and
informative environment.

What is Plastination?

Invented by scientist and anatomist Dr. Gunther von Hagens in 1977, Plastination is the

groundbreaking method of halting decomposition and preserving anatomical specimens for scientific
and medical education. Plastination is the process of extracting all bodily fluids and soluble fat from
specimens, replacing them through vacuum forced impregnation with reactive resins and elastomers,
and then curing them with light, heat, or certain gases, which give the specimens rigidity and
permanence.

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Where did the specimens on display come from?

Will we know who the plastinates are or how they died?

The BODY WORLDS exhibitions rely on the generosity of body donors; individuals who bequeathed

that, upon their death, their bodies could be used for educational purposes in the exhibitions.
Currently, the Institute for Plastination has a donor roster of 8000 individuals,
490 are already deceased.

All of the whole body plastinates and the majority of the specimens are from these body donors;
some specific specimens that show unusual conditions come from old anatomical collections and
morphological institutes. As agreed upon by the body donors, their identities and causes of death
are not provided. The exhibitions focuse on the nature of our bodies, not on providing personal
information.

 

Why are the plastinates posed the way they are?

The poses of the plastinates have been carefully thought out and serve educational aims. Each

plastinate is posed to illustrate different anatomical features. For instance, the athletic poses illustrate
the use of muscle systems while playing sports. The poses allow the visitor to relate the plastinate tohis or her own body.

Will I be able to touch any of the plastinates?

While you will be able to get very close to the plastinates, as a rule, visitors are not allowed to touch
them. At a certain area in the exhibition, however, visitors have the option of touching a select group of
plastinated organs to better understand both the human anatomy and the process of Plastination.

Are these exhibitions appropriate for children?

Nearly 25 million people, including young children, have viewed the BODY WORLDS exhibitions

around the world. It is important to note that the exhibition includes full-body plastinates with exposed

genitals.

We recommend the BODY WORLDS exhibits for school groups in Grades 5 and up.

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Why is it important for the public to see these exhibits?

We believe that when people understand more about how the body works and how it can break down,
they are more likely to choose healthy and sustainable lifestyles. We also hope it will inspire visitors
to learn more about the life sciences. Knowledge about what the human body looks like and how it
functions is basic life science information that should be available to everyone.

 

Why are there not more women plastinates in the exhibits?

Sensitive to perceived community concerns, Dr. von Hagens did not want to appear voyeuristic in
revealing too many female bodies. Further, he sees himself in the tradition of Renaissance anatomists,
whose works traditionally included far more masculine than feminine bodies, since all but the
reproductive systems are essentially the same. The musculature of male bodies is generally more
pronounced and illustrates more aspects of the muscle system. The organs on display come primarily
from the female body donors. However, since opening the exhibits, Dr. von Hagens has received
numerous requests from women visitors to see more examples of female anatomy. Based on this, Dr.
von Hagens has already added and will add more female plastinates to future exhibits.

 

How long can I stay inside the exhibits?

You can stay as long as you like. But we recommend allowing yourself about one to two hours. The
length of time will vary on how long each visitor wishes to examine each specimen and read the
information provided. An audio tour will increase your time in the exhibits.

Can I take photographs or film in the exhibitions?

Photography and filming, including pictures taken with cell phones, are not allowed in the BODY

WORLDS exhibitions, except by accredited members of the media.

Are food and drink permitted in BODY WORLDS?

Food and drink are not permitted in the exhibit galleries. The policy helps to protect The Leonardo’s

exhibits, as well as the BODY WORLDS plastinates.

What is BodyWorlds

(Taken from the BodyWorlds site: theleonardo.org

 

 

Dear Students,

Have you ever watched a professional basketball player seem to float in air as he or she leaps up to

dunk the ball in the basket? Or maybe you watched skiers and skaters competing at the Olympics,

and wondered “How did they do that?” Well, our bodies are pretty amazing. And the more we learn

about ourselves and how our bodies work, the better we can take care of ourselves and others. And,

the healthier we will be—making us better on the ice rink, basketball or tennis court, jumping

hurdles, or just walking down the street.

“Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS: The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies” was

developed by a German doctor and anatomist to help people understand how their bodies work by

letting them look inside real human bodies. When you visit with your school or family, you will see

exactly how your brain and your heart look and what happens to them when certain diseases take

over. You will see how smoking destroys your lungs, and how your bones, muscles and ligaments

all work together so you can shoot baskets, dance, or figure skate. The activities inside this guide will

help you learn more about the human body.Then come visit us to see BODY WORLDS.

You’ll really get to know yourself!

At The Leonardo, our mission is to fuse science, technology and art in experiences that inspire

creativity and innovation in people of all ages and backgrounds. BODY WORLDS & the Cycle of Life,

provides students and visitors with the opportunity to learn about anatomy and health by viewing

real, preserved human bodies. This exhibition showcases all our major body systems, including our

muscular system, nervous system, respiratory system, cardiovascular system, digestive system and the

reproductive system.

BODY WORLDS uses modern plastination technology as a tool to enhance the study of anatomy.

Students will understand how the body works when it’s healthy and what happens when it breaks

down, as well as the effects of lifestyle choices on the body. For instance, they can see the effects of

smoking on the lungs, and how muscles work together during exercise. More than 25 million people

have seen BODY WORLDS worldwide.

Important information to know about BODY WORLDS:

• The BODY WORLDS exhibitions rely on the generosity of body donors: individuals who bequeathed

that, upon their death, their bodies could be used for educational purposes in the exhibition. All

of the full-body plastinates and the majority of the specimens are from these body donors; some

specific specimens that show unusual conditions come from anatomical collections.

• All body specimens are without skin so you can see the bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, blood

vessels and organs. Eyes and genitals of the bodies remain. Written descriptions (English only)

accompany all specimens.

• A separate section of the exhibition highlights prenatal development and includes embryos and

fetuses. Visitors may choose whether or not to view this area.

Introduction to January's Eureka

As you know, each month we take a day of the creation and that is the basis for our study. We are now on day four where God created grass, seeds, plants, trees, etc. It is hard to do a botany study in the winter. I would rather wait to study that (March) when we can actually go outside and see evidence of seeds sprouting as the earth wakes up from its winter sleep.

So, even though it is out of order, we are going to be studying anatomy this month and next. Furthermore, there is an exhibit in Salt Lake at the Leonardo that ends this month. So, let's go!! The exhibit is called BodyWorlds. It shows people who have passed away, donated their bodies to science, are plastinated and are on display. You should know that the exhibit is somewhat controversial.  I have posted info on the Vanguard blog that is helpful in preparing to go. Please have your parents read them! I believe both sides of the issue are very well represented and that you will, with the help of your parents decide whether or not this field trip is for you.  Please know that if you choose not to go, there will be no judgment, and I won't even dock your grade ;) We all have different opinions, and how great that as homeschoolers we get to follow the spirit and choose for ourselves.

There will be inspirements in which we will learn and discover all sorts of amazing, awesome things about the human body. So be prepared whether you go to BodyWorlds or not!  I love to study human anatomy as it manifests the wonder and awe of our Creator like nothing else! 

Some info you need to know:
We will go to BodyWorlds on Thursday, Jan. 22, at our regularly scheduled Eureka time. We will meet at Halley's at 9 a.m. We will have opening and leave after that, about 9:30. (If you opt out of the field trip you can take the whole day off instead of just coming for opening.) 

Your Vanguard dues will pay for you to go.  Any other parents who want to go?  We have a discounted price for adults at $15.00.  We would love to have you.  You are also welcome to bring any siblings that you think it would be appropriate for at $6.50 per person.

What to bring:
Bring a lunch!  (As usual.)
Bring a pen and paper as we will have a bit of time to journal about the experience afterwards.

Drivers?  Would you please let me know if you are planning to go, and if your parents would like to come and if they are willing to drive? 

What time will we return?  I am guessing about  3:00, but we can always call on our way home to give you the heads up.