Program Update: Science with Virgil

7th grade:  Our current unit launched with students hearing about an injury to a middle school student that caused him to need stitches, pins, and a cast. They analyzed doctor reports and developed an initial model for how our bodies heal. Students investigate what the different parts of our body are made of, from the macro scale to the micro-scale. They dissected a chicken wing to learn about the different tissues (bone, muscle, and skin) involved in the injury. They also watched a timelapse of a knee scrape and noticed that over time the scraped part is filled in with new skin cells. Students investigate what happens when cells make more cells, what cells need to make more cells, and how cells get what they need to make more cells. Eventually, students will return to the healing timeline they made at the start of the unit and apply what they have figured out about the interactions between the different systems in the body to explain the various events of healing that took place for the injury at the start of the unit. Finally, they will apply their model for healing to explain growth at growth plates in children’s bodies as they become adults.