Physiology classes take a field trip to BodyWorlds Vital exhibit in San Jose
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then an actual exhibit is worth a million. And when it comes to studying the human body, getting to see the actual muscles and other structures is infinitely more rewarding than pictures from a textbook. On Feb. 3, Physiology teachers Pooya Hajjarian and Jenna Smith took their classes to the BodyWorlds Vital exhibit at the Tech Museum in San Jose.
Meant as a supplement to the curriculum, the field trip was designed for students to see the human body, which is the main focus of the class, up close and personal.
“[The field trip] didn’t necessarily have a whole lot to do with our current unit because we’re
covering the cardiovascular unit [while the field trip] covered everything really,” Hajjarian said. “It’s about health and the human body, which is our main goal [for the class].”
To keep the field trip more free-floating, the students were given free reign to roam around the exhibit at their own pace. However, the students were required to complete a series of questions for homework to ensure they hit the most important exhibits.
There were two main components to the field trip: the exhibits themselves and a 45-minute IMAX presentation titled “The Human Body.”
“It’s really helpful to see how exactly things connected because its better than just a photograph,” junior Anna Shabrova said.
In particular, Shabrova found a few exhibits that showed the arteries and the blood vessels to be intriguing.
For senior Nathan Hu, the exhibits were fascinating, but he was a bit disappointed by how short it was.
“I liked seeing all the people’s muscles and how they cut them up,” Hu said. “[They even] show the insides of [the muscles] and split them apart. [However,] it was kind of short. You go through the whole thing in 30 to 40 minutes.”
Overall, many of the students found the trip to be enjoyable and would recommend visiting the exhibit to a friend that was interested in the human body.
“When you see students walking around and are just amazed by what they are seeing, it makes you feel like, ‘Wow, this is really cool that I’ve been able to get kids interested in something like that,” Hajjarian said. “It was really fun for me to watch the kids, so overall it was successful.”
The BodyWorlds Vitals exhibit will be open through February. Tickets and other information can be found here.
