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Today, we explored a number of systems. We began by palpating the abdominal region in order to gain a better understanding of the organs that lie just beneath the surface. Just below the rib cage in the front, we found the stomach to the left and the liver to the right. You can see how large the liver is in these images. The 23 feet of small intestines in the middle framed by the large intestines the ascend from the right hip, drape across the front of the abdomen and then descend down the left side to run along the sacrum before entering the colon.
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On the flip side, we worked in pairs to help one another find our kidneys by placing our hands on either side of the spine at the bottom of the rib cage. Then we traced the path of the ureters as they descended toward the bladder. You can see the organs very well in these images.
We then took a moment to trace one anothers nervous systems from the brain, down the spinal column and then the network of nerves as they branched off the spinal cord. This video above "A Stroke of Insight" talks alot about the right and left hemispheres of the brain in a fantastic tale that you will never forget. Check it out!
We did a little reggae dance of the circulatory system. This video gives a more visual experience of the circulatory system that may expand your understanding.
Finally, we took the Magic School tour of the digestive system. As a group, we walked our way from the mouth through the esophagus to the stomach. We went single file through the small intestine and then became quite dehydrated in the large intestine. Then, we got all bunched upon in the colon until Traci pushed us all out. Splash and bravo! This video above is also a lot of fun.
What learning would you like to integrate from today?
50 comments:
Well, this class was definitely a new experience. I agree with the analogy that the digestive tour was like a tour on the “The Magic School Bus.” I think the tour dance through the circulatory system was affective in helping us learn about our digestive system. I liked imagining us as a cracker being chewed up and split apart. I’m not sure about the ending of the digestive system. I didn’t think we were as in to the reggae dance for the circulatory system as the “Magic School Bus” tour.
I think this class was the most experiential session we've had this quarter. I particularly enjoyed the partner work where we woke up our sensory nerve system - I tried this on my husband this morning and it seemed to energize him. The Magic Bus tour was fun, humorous and a little silly. However, it really helped me gain a clearer understanding of my organs. You'd think I would know where my organs are, how large or small they all are, but I don't think about them much unless they are in trouble. I liked engaging with them, especially with the whole class. Like Jenea said, we seemed to all be into the magic bus tour more than the independent dance of the circulatory system.
Regarding the videos - I was amazed watching the video, "stroke of insight". To be able to verbalize the experience that she had during a stroke and describing the strong differences between what the right and left brain were telling her was quite amazing. Also, to realize that it took her 8 years to make a full recovery made me appreciate my own health a little more. I have several friends who have had strokes over the last couple of years and the video gave me a better appreciation of what they have gone through to recover. I also realized that often, I take my own health for granted and am more motivated to continue focusing on the things that keep me healthy.
To that end, as far as what I would like to integrate in my learning from this class. . I want to continue to explore my own knowledge of our organs, especially the respiratory and circulatory systems.
"Right ventricle!
Lungs expand!
Left ventricle!
Out through the Aorta!
and dance!"
I really enjoyed our first choreographed dance we learned for the pumping of the heart. I had so much fun trying to understand the human heart and sync with it's functioning. Once the blood moved out of our aortas and we were able to dance about, I really felt grateful and free because it felt like my heart worked hard and gave me the ability to move however I pleased.
When you described how intricate and complex the human body can be, I could not agree more. I'm really enjoying exploring our body's systems!
-Hanalore Alupay
Inspiration
To inspire
To take a breath
What causes you take a breath?
Yesterday, while on a hike in the woods, a friend broke down the word inspiration for me I was moved by it’s root and called to reflect on the elements in my life that inspire me.
I am feeling very inspired by the exploration of our bodily systems.
Reflecting on our class Thursday, I enjoyed riding the magic school bus through the digestive tract. It is amazing how much can be learned through kinesthetic exercises. I cannot believe that I have 23 feet of small intestine!
-Lindsey G.
Thursday's class was very interesting to say the least. It was a very informative class, but at the same time very fun. It is nice to now know where my organs are and what they do. I enjoyed the first dance that we did, It was fun acting out what are body is doing inside. I also very much enjoyed our class journey through the digestive system. It was amazing how long and how many different processes we went through until we evacuated the body.
I enjoyed getting to know my organs better. I feel like people do not know enough about where their organs are, myself included. This class helped me form a better idea of where everything is and how it all works together. Physically touching the corresponding places of my organs helped me to really relate to them and remember their locations as opposed to just looking at a picture. I did find it hard to actually feel my organs though.
When working with a partner, I found it much easier to focus on my kidneys and breathing into them than if I were to attempt such a feat on my own. My partner even said that she could feel me breathing into them which I found surprising. I also really enjoyed the nervous system exercise. For one it felt really good and two it helped awaken my sense of feeling.
I found the circulatory system dance fun, but I don’t know how well I was really focusing on the system itself instead of the movements we were making.
Then there was the tour of the digestive system. I found this enlightening, but also kind of disgusting. It was fun to think of it in the sense of being on the Magic School Bus though, considering the fact that I used to watch that show all the time as a child. I also feel like more knowledge could have been gained from this exercise than I feel was.
Overall, I thought this class was fun and enlightening, though a little silly at times. ~Miranda Schmidt
This class was very interesting and fun. I was familiar with the pathway of digestion since I am a biology major, but I thought it was a good way for other students, who were not familiar to learn it. I thought it was fun how we explored the digestive system from within. I laughed very hard when we got to the last part of the digestive system and we had to push! I like how during the past couple of lectures, we have been going through different systems of the body and exploring them. It makes me think more about different organs in my body and the things that are happening every second. Plus, I am a bio major so I absolutely love talking about anatomy and physiology! :)
~Afsoon Fazeli
I enjoyed having my nervous system stimulated by my partner. It was instantly relaxing for me. I have got to do this more with my friends (or with the Scientologists : ) ). As for the time we spent exploring the digestive system, it was fun and educational. We take these systems for granted so much of the time. It is hard to believe that the digestive system is just one of the ten systems in our body. A few questions also came up in class regarding the location of the uterus. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my first child, I was BLOWN AWAY by all the amazing things my body was doing, all by itself. It just knew what to do and this amazing child came. It's hard to believe she came from me; that this amazing thing came into being, from me, and I had essentially no role in "making" her. Our bodies truly are amazing!!! Lastly, I wanted to add that I watched the video by Jill Bolte Taylor and cried. My father had a stroke last month and hearing Jill's story gave me a much greater understanding of his situation. - Suzanne Wilson
What shocked me the most about this class was learning that our kidneys are in the BACK!!! I had no idea! I thought they were in the front, and whenever I would hear stories about people getting their kidney removed, I would unconsciously rub the side of my stomach. I also thought it was interesting when one of my classmates mentioned something about her kidneys feeling tight because she consumed some alcohol the night before. Usually after I drink, my whole body feels tired, but I definitely feel it more in my stomach. Maybe this is why I had always thought my kidneys were on the sides of my stomach.
The whole brushing of the nervous system was great! It felt like I was getting a backrub, which is always nice :) It really did woke me up and made me feel less tired, which was extremely needed that morning. It was cool to feel how our nerves branch off the spinal cord since it’s not every day I randomly rub my back and feel my nerves.
The Magic School bus tour was weird at first because all of us were so close together. It was cool to visualize and act out the whole movement within our Digestive System, but at the same time, it was a little gross. I did learn a lot about the whole process thought, and it has made me more aware of what my body has to do to accept and digest the different kinds of food that I eat. After this class, I have made it a point to eat more slowly and chew everything completely before swallowing it. It’s surprising how much more I enjoy eating when I take the time to do it, as opposed to just gobbling everything because I am always in such a hurry!
Felicia Widjaja
What shocked me the most about this class was learning that our kidneys are in the BACK!!! I had no idea! I thought they were in the front, and whenever I would hear stories about people getting their kidney removed, I would unconsciously rub the side of my stomach. I also thought it was interesting when one of my classmates mentioned something about her kidneys feeling tight because she consumed some alcohol the night before. Usually after I drink, my whole body feels tired, but I definitely feel it more in my stomach. Maybe this is why I had always thought my kidneys were on the sides of my stomach.
The whole brushing of the nervous system was great! It felt like I was getting a backrub, which is always nice :) It really did woke me up and made me feel less tired, which was extremely needed that morning. It was cool to feel how our nerves branch off the spinal cord since it’s not every day I randomly rub my back and feel my nerves.
The Magic School bus tour was weird at first because all of us were so close together. It was cool to visualize and act out the whole movement within our Digestive System, but at the same time, it was a little gross. I did learn a lot about the whole process thought, and it has made me more aware of what my body has to do to accept and digest the different kinds of food that I eat. After this class, I have made it a point to eat more slowly and chew everything completely before swallowing it. It’s surprising how much more I enjoy eating when I take the time to do it, as opposed to just gobbling everything because I am always in such a hurry!
Felicia Widjaja
At the time of this class, I enjoyed the learning and felt the activities were a great way to bring in the new information. But after this weekend I have a newfound gratefulness for this particular da we had. My grandpa has two tumors in his pancreas, blocking his bile duct. These tumors cause blockages in his small intestines and put pressure on his stomach because they are so close to where the small intestines connect to the stomach. There s nothing that the doctors can do but I felt a sense of calm and relief to be able to talk with mygrandmother and aunt about the details of his cancer. He is currently in hospice care due to the bursting of one of the tumors but going through the digestive system in class and being able to remember and visualize where his blockages are is of great importance to me. so thank you for that.
Also this class helped me with a BIOL 119 quiz that I had on Thursday. We had to answer some questions on the circulatory system and check off in which areas the blood was oxygenated. Our wonderful dance allowed me to feel and remember where the blood went and remember that after going to the lungs it would be oxygenated. So everywhere it went after that would be oxygenated.
The sensation of my nervous system being traced was relaxing and stimulating at the same time. I felt like unnneccesary tension was removed and ability to have free movement was replaced. I also felt a bit of detox from the pressure and energy as my partner held her hands over my kidneys. I thought that was interesting and it surprised me a bit.
Overall I felt like this class was so valuable for my own learning and physical well-being.
-Jessica Jensen
I just had so much fun during class on Thursday. I am facinated with the
digestive system and all that it does for us and class provided a really
conprehensive way of learning and understanding the whole system, how it works
together and how it is one system. It was cool looking at it not through the
specticles of father science.
Joanne Pontrello
I just wanted to comment on some other people’s comments in class regarding how everything works together and how knowing the area of each organ could help you figure out what’s hurting. My recent battle with my kidneys taught me a valuable lesson and showed me that even with anatomical knowledge, your body can trick you. I’ve dealt with plenty of back pain in my time because of my scoliosis. The first time I had a kidney infection, I knew that this was a different kind of back pain and went right in to see my Dr. Unfortunately, I got really sick even when I caught it early. This time, the pain was in a completely different area, so I didn’t even consider that it may be my kidneys yet again. It wasn’t until the pain moved to my abdomen and I became sick that I realized that this was, again, not just a back problem. For most of the two weeks that I had pain in various lower back and abdominal regions, the area around my kidneys only hurt when the Dr. oh-so-gently hit me there. I also didn’t really have any of the regular symptoms people think of when they think of a kidney infection; I had flu symptoms, a very high fever, and, of course, the back pain. So I just wanted to point out that just because you know where stuff is doesn’t really mean much when it comes to figuring out what is wrong with you. But this also shows how one system can have such a great effect on others – if one part of you gets messed up, the rest of the body responds.
~Marcee Wickline
The mapping of the nervous system with fingers did have a slight wakening effect on me, partly because it only occurred for a small period of time. It does seem effective and I can use it as a good way of waking up a person rather then shouting (exaggerating...) at them (another way includes rubbing their feet to wake them up). I viewed the complexity of the heart dance as amount of crucial work that our (rhythmic) heart does in circulation of the blood.
The digestive part of the today's class was the most hilarious one. It was quite a change from the usual *abstract* way of teaching as in my other classes taken at the University. The actual placement of the different (digestive) organs was very informative. Mainly because I viewed the whole system (also including the urinary system) as 2d (slice) rather then its actual (and quite *neat*) 3d placement (which is amazing...). Finally I totally agree on how just moving hands around the abdomen area, following the intestines, can have an easing effect on some of the (in)digestion problems.
Overall I have really enjoyed learning about the different systems within the body, but the digestive system was the most fun to learn from. I could not stop laughing, as each of us were acting like food/nutrients in the body going through the different organs. I really thought I was in the yellow magic bus. These activities have made me appreciate my body so much more. I learn about theses different systems within the body everyday in my classes, but it is very superficial and no one really sits down to think about it deeply; this class on the other hand has given me an opportunity to really learn and be grateful for all of these details and harmonious activities. Not only was it fun to learn, but funny as well:)I also liked tracing the nervous system activity.
Sahar Z.
Very interesting to learn something that is really related to human body. I am not bio major or anything so I do not have much knowledge about organs and all that systems. However, after watching all these clips, now I want to learn more about it and take more classes on those. I am just amazed since at this moment my body therefore I am working in a way that the clips are addressing. breaking food and going all through the digestive system. My heart is keep circulate my blood. Amazing to learn and very productive and useful clips as well.
The most entertaining and educational part of class hit me when we were touring our digestive system where we transformed as a class representing a cracker all the way through the bodies functions. It was such a great way to show how each part of the digestive system works. And when we have a better ense for how we work on the inside we have a better chance of knowing how to take care of ourselves on the outside so we don't have any complications.
The stimulating of the nervous system was very interesting to. I never would expected a few brushing movement from head to toe would make me feel so awake and energized. Very pleasant surprise. It would be a good anecdote for sluggish mornings.
Very educational and very enjoyable class on Thursday.
I felt a deep connection with my inner self during this exploration of the inner body. What I am only aware of in my body are my bones, stomach, brain, and muscles. I never had the chance to fully explore my organs; I could never distinguish the layers of these organs that are hidden beneath my skin. It’s amazing to think of the complexity of our bodies. I astonish that every functions of the organ thrive on each other for life. I felt a great appreciation for my body and realized that it also feeds off of me. I need to take better care of my body and give it nourishment.
Every organ is stuffed together in a small rectangular frame. I am more familiar with looking at pictures from the human organ’s anatomy biology text book. However, locating where every organ seem impossible to me. As we started to locate every organ from our pancreas to large intestine, I felt a great sensation of gratitude for being alive.
Even if our Magic school tour wasn’t as animated as the TV, I explored a new realm of my imagination. A realm where I could actually feel the type of power my body was capable of. We walked through the mouth then through an incredible adventure down our digestive tract. I also felt the enjoyment of connecting with our class. We all explore something all of us had in common. I am overwhelmed; I have a deeper appreciation and connection to my body. I am truly thankful as for taking this experience with me in the future, where I can be more aware of my inner functions.
-QMLN
This posting is now closed to comments.
I liked thinking about how many similarities our digestive systems have with other organisms. I thought back to my recent experience of disecting a goldfish and a worm. We all have the same types of structures such as stomaches and large intestines. These different organs in different organisms of course have their differences and quirks, but there are underlying qualities and characteristics of each organ, in any body, that make it a specialized, efficient mechanism for a specific task in dealing with food and waste.
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