Maple School Project Lead The Way (PLTW) students recently found out the hard way that the dura mater covering a sheep's brain, really does matter!
During a sheep brain dissection laboratory, teacher Kristen Leverso began the class period by apologizing to the kids because they were supposed to be dissecting without first having to peel off the outermost meninges membrane covering the brain. The seventh-graders in the Medical Detectives class were told to be extra careful while peeling it away, so as to leave all the other structures beneath it intact. It took some grit.
A few of the pupils were a bit squeamish by the brain's appearance and odor. However, Ms. Leverso allowed them to take "hallway" breaks, and after awhile, everyone finally succeeded in identifying and labeling the brains. The sheep brain dissection is meant to help the students better understand their current study of the human brain, according to Ms. Leverso.
Each student wore safety glasses and blue gloves. Two pupils were assigned to work on one sheep’s brain at-a-time. Roles included dissection technician, co-dissection technician, equipment specialist, and anatomical clerk. They were studying the external anatomy of the sheep brain and found it had two halves. While examining the external and internal structures, they used toothpick flags with tiny labels to identify its numerous parts.
One of the lab partners was required to photograph the completely labeled sheep’s brain at the end of the period. A worksheet was passed out with questions about the identification of parts and functions of the brain. The kids were reminded to pay close attention to each part of the "normal" sheep brain looks like. Because in the next lesson, they will be presented with a brain that may or may not have a problem.
"You will use what you learned in today's activity, to help you analyze a potentially 'diseased' brain," said Ms. Leverso.
