At Bais Yaakov of Queens, the fifth graders are bringing Life Science to life! In an in-depth study of the body systems, they began with the respiratory and circulatory systems. Making the lessons relevant to themselves, the girls learned how to take their own heart rates. After engaging in intense physical exercise, such as playing tag and doing jumping jacks, they measured their heart rates again. Wow! Their heart rates were so much higher and their breathing rates increased! The girls were so excited! Shouts of “I feel it!” rang through the air.
Next, the girls learned about their skeletal and muscular systems. They identified various parts of their own skeletal systems. Examining how the different parts work together to enable their bodies to move, their hands-on lab activity showed the girls how a muscle’s contraction pulls the bones, causing the bones to move when walking and raising hands.
Over the next few weeks they will design a model of a person and add 3D parts of each system to the model to visualize where all the systems are in the body. The girls are learning and enjoying every step of the way! They can’t wait for the next exciting lesson and hands-on activity!
