Overview
I have always been fascinated with the body function and structure. I remember when I was young, my older sister and I would help shear sheep and goats every year during the spring. We used huge scissor shears to shear the wool and mohair and after we completed shearing a sheep we would toss the wool into the huge gunny sack that hung between tripod poles. As the wool piled up in the sack my sister or I would climb into the sack and jump-up and down in the sack to compact the wool inside so there was room to pack more. Sometimes we got stuck in the sack and had to pull one another out. As we completed shearing, three huge sacks of wool and mohair hung on the tripod poles until the trading post opened for business. While the sacks hung, the lambs would lay below the sacks for shade.
One year, on the day following the shearing, my sister and I saw that one of the sacks had fallen. We lifted the big heavy sack and leaned it against the other tripod pole. When we lifted the huge sack we found three dead lambs under the sack. My mom was not happy because sheep was our source of food and income. We dragged the dead lambs by the corral to let the mothers know they lost their babies. Then the next day my mother told my sister and me to butcher the lambs. She said, "Its time you learn." That was the first time when we learned to butcher by ourselves. I had to analyze and critically examine the parts of the lamb. I had to pay attention to how cut the neck, making sure to severe the spinal cord then begin to cut a straight slit from the chest down to the reproductive and excretory area. As we skinned a lamb, I kept telling my sister be careful with the stomach area because it's bloated. I knew one of us had to puncture a small slit into the diaphragm to slowly release the air within the stomach area. Of course, my sister is older and I'm younger, so she made me do the dirty job. Well, I punctured the diaphragm and the stomach (mistake) and the poop sprayed all over my face and clothes. YUCK!!!!! EEEEOOOWWW! If I had been experienced, I would have known that the trick was to just cut a slit on the diaphragm only. My sister and my mom laughed so hard because my face and clothes were green and I smelled like poop! Although I smelled and looked silly, I still had to learn how to butcher. I have butchered a lot of sheep since that incident.
Of all the multiples times I have butchered, I had viewed many parts of the sheep's internal system holding, feeling and cleaning the organs like the stomach, large and small intestines. While cleaning the internal body parts I thought about the various function of the organs, brain, skeleton, and major arteries. I was amazed of how all parts within the body need each other to function and how major organs fit within the abdomen like overlapping puzzle pieces. As a teacher, I have demonstrated and modeled this experience to the students: what I have seen and learned during the process of butchering a sheep. I tell them that it is important not to just hurry and butcher because of the heat, but to think about the structure, functions, and purpose of the internal organs. NOT THE POOP EXPERIENCE, but to analyze, apply, evaluate and create, which are the critical skills students need while investigating the scientific process. We have actual models of arteries, bones, brain, muscles, organs, and tendons grazing within our backyard.
I had the honor in attending Mr. Mark Saltzman's "Organs and Artificial Organs" seminar sessions. I was impressed with his knowledge of current researches of artificial organs, especially with the organs that interest me like the pancreas and the fascinating kidney functions and the current technological improvements on the hemodialysis systems. His lecture and sketches of organs, cells, and formulas were very comprehensible. I will use the visuals he presented and sketches he diagramed in my curriculum unit.
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