Travels in Biology

This spring, our Biology class was busy! The class has been working its way through the diversity of life, starting with the most basic and culminating in human biology projects. Mari, our science teacher, led several field trips to research centers at the University of Vermont so students could see the concepts they learned in action. One of their first trips was to the Zadock Thompson Zoological Collection, looking at the diversity of insect life. Students were particularly interested in the many species of bees in the collection, given their recent apiary work. Next, students toured the Miller Research and Educational Center, UVM's agricultural research facility. The MREC trip coincided with information on mammals and advanced organ systems.  Students learned about dairy cow life cycles, bovine digestion, and agricultural research.  While touring the Miller Center, the class saw fistulated cows, pet dairy cows, and learned the milking procedures.

For their last field trip, students toured the pathology department at UVM in support of their human anatomy curriculum. Dr. Ann Guillot, former RPS board member and wife of our current Chemistry teacher, helped arrange the visit and was there to greet our students. The pathology department pulled tissue samples, including aortas, livers, kidneys, hearts, and lungs for our students to observe and touch.  Students compared diseased and healthy specimens, and discussed what the organs do and what had gone wrong.  The researchers at UVM said, "We were astounded by the kids’ depth of knowledge about the human body and their astute questions and enthusiasm as the demonstration progressed," and "It was such a pleasure, I was so impressed with the great questions the students had! They were so knowledgeable and engaged."

Thanks so much to the people at UVM who opened their departments to our students and thanks so much to Mari for coordinating the trips for our students and helping them be so prepared!