Category: Anatomy

  • Body Tissues Review

    Body Tissues Review

    This remote learning exercise was made for anatomy students studying body tissues. The review uses Google slides for students to drag labels to the different types of epithelial cells and label the connective tissue matrix. Another slide has photos of tissue for students to identify which is the epithelial, connective, nervous, and muscle tissue. Fun…

  • Case Study – Mitosis, Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine

    Case Study – Mitosis, Cancer, and the HPV Vaccine

    Students in my anatomy class get a quick review of the cell and mitosis. This activity on HPV shows how the cell cycle relates to overall health. In fact, many of the chapters in anatomy have anchoring phenomena on diseases and health. For example, cystic fibrosis is a cellular transport problem, but has serious effects…

  • Vaccines: Nasal or Shot?

    Vaccines: Nasal or Shot?

    Students read a short article about nasal vaccines and intramuscular vaccines with a focus on the development of a vaccine for coronavirus. Students can listen to or read the article on NPR: Shots about how a nasal vaccine might be more effective in preventing the spread of coronavirus. You can play the podcast version in…

  • Medical Errors – Don’t Use Pure Water Intravenously

    Medical Errors – Don’t Use Pure Water Intravenously

    I created this mini case study from a story about a patient given sterile water instead of saline in an intravenous drip solution. Students should probably have a learned about tonicity (hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic) before attempting this activity. The worksheet describes a scenario where a patient was hyperglycemic and the doctor ordered water be…

  • Case Study – Gluten

    Case Study – Gluten

    This case study was created for distance learning and is a short exploration of how celiac disease affects the digestive system. This is not a long case, and should probably only take 20-30 minutes to complete. I plan to use it with breakout groups working together over Zoom or Google Classroom. The activity is presented…

  • Skeleton Label Using Slides

    Skeleton Label Using Slides

    Many students in health, anatomy, and biology classes learn the bones of the skeleton. To introduce the topic with my anatomy students, I usually lay random bones on the tables. Students guess where the bone is found in the body. Some are easy, like the femur. The scapula usually stumps them. It can be a…

  • Air Pressure and Life

    Air Pressure and Life

    Anatomy begins by describing the requirements of life. Why do you need air pressure to survive and what happens when you are in space with no pressure.

  • Label Digestive System

    Label Digestive System

    This worksheet was designed for anatomy students to practice labeling the organs of the digestive system. It is a little more advanced than what is typically seen in health or basic biology classes because it includes the three sections of the small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) and the three sections of the colon. (Note: I…

  • Urinary System Label

    Urinary System Label

    This image was modified from a wikimedia file so that students can fill in the answers. I have made four versions within a Google doc for either practice or differentiation. One version just has boxes for students to name the structures, and a second version has a word bank for developing learners. The other versions…

  • Case Study: Diaper Drama

    Case Study: Diaper Drama

    A case study on the urinary system. Students learn about a baby with recurring urinary tract infections due to a duplicate ureter.

  • Investigation: Villi Height

    Investigation: Villi Height

    Use a Netlogo simulation to observe how different heights of villi within the intestine affect absorption rate. Change the height of villi or size of food.

  • Infectious Disease Project

    Infectious Disease Project

    Create an infographic, poster, or pamphlet that instructs the public about a disease. Choose a historic disease, like bubonic plague and develop a presentation.

  • Label the Digestive System of a Rabbit

    Label the Digestive System of a Rabbit

    Students in biology may or may not do extensive dissections, but most biology classes do include a unit on comparative anatomy. Many teachers substitute dissections with virtual labs or paper versions of dissections where students label, color, or cut out parts. This worksheet shows a simplified diagram of a human and a rabbit digestive system…

  • Bird Digestive System

    Bird Digestive System

    This worksheet provides an image of a chicken focused on the digestive system as part of an overall unit on comparative anatomy. Students label the major organs of the system which are similar to the human and frog. The chicken does have some digestive system adaptations , such as a crop, proventriculus, and gizzard, which…

  • Frog Anatomy Label

    Frog Anatomy Label

    This worksheet is a supplement to the frog dissection activity where students examine a preserved specimen. The main structures of the abdominal cavity are shown on this image and students practice identifying them using the included word bank. ( The worksheet could be modified to not include it should students need a greater challenge. )…