SJH Students Experiment
Each year, seventh-grade science students at Schultz Junior High (SJH) look forward to their right of passage; frog dissection, but in order to get to dissection, they must complete the study of a study of the 10 main systems that make up the body including the circulatory, respiratory, skeletal, muscular, digestive, excretory, reproductive, integumentary, nervous, and endocrine systems.
“Students learn by doing. We know they learn best and retain information when they are involved in authentic experiences,” SJH Instructional Facilitator Sarah Buenger said. “The body systems labs are great at allowing students to learn more about themselves and how their body maintains homeostasis.”
Throughout the study of systems, students participate in a variety of labs to engage them in learning and retaining information. Most recently, they studied the respiratory system. As part of the lesson, students conducted an experiment to demonstrate how the lungs convert oxygen to carbon dioxide using Bromothymol blue (BTB), a non-toxic pH indicator. BTB changes colors as the pH of a solution changes from basic to acidic. Adding BTB to water, the color is originally blue meaning the water is basic but as students blow through a straw into the solution, it changes to yellow. This change was due to the carbon dioxide students breathed turning the solution acidic. Students were surprised to watch the drastic transformation and discover how the human body can create such a change.
“Students love experiment days! They find them both fun and useful,” Buenger said. “It also helps them understand how to work together and to be a part of a cooperative group.”
The frog dissection is scheduled for the end of the school year. Through the dissection, students are able to compare the human anatomy to a frog’s and see how all systems work together to keep a body functioning. A virtual dissection is made available to any student who is not comfortable with the live dissection.
“Our science teachers love it because students get a chance to put it all together to see how all of the systems work together,“ Buenger said.