Pickles dissected in name of science

With the scheduling conundrum over, and the excitement of a new semester winding down, students have had time to reflect on the classes that they’ve completed over their high school careers. One that stands out to many, especially to seniors who will be leaving West in a matter of months, is anatomy and physiology, taught by science teacher Kim Hoyle.

“Anatomy and physiology covers all the structures of the body and how they function together,” Hoyle said. “Our course here at West has a bigger focus on the actual structure part, and just because of time we don’t get too into the physiology aspect, so it’s a lot of memorization.”

Although learning about the human body can be interesting for almost everyone, it can be fairly difficult, so the class is perfect for students looking for a course to challenge their thinking.

“It’s a lot of information to cover in one semester, so typically it’s a lot of motivated students who aren’t afraid to put in the time and effort, in class and outside of class, and usually kids that are going to take more advanced medical related classes later on,” Hoyle said.

Senior Leah Engstrom is such a student, taking the class in anticipation of a rigorous course to help prepare her for the challenges secondary education would bring.
“I took anatomy and physiology because I want to go further in biology for my future education, because I plan to go to medical school right now,” she said.“I wanted sort of an introduction and a brief overview to the human body, so that I had some background knowledge before college.”

Even though the class contains thorough and exhaustive coursework, Hoyle still wanted to remind students that you can have fun while learning about certain topics within science.
“I cut out a couple of units that other teachers had done in the past that I know are covered a lot in UW Biology,” she said. “I thought ‘okay, we’re not gonna make them learn it again’, since many of my students have also taken UW Bio. So I decided to add in some more fun, kind of interesting things to get started in that extra space that I had.”

In lieu of these topics that Hoyle withdrew from her teaching came fun labs that used the information learned in class. Students were able to participate in blood typing activities, were able to dissect cats, create fake wounds with household supplies, and even perform an autopsy on a pickle.
“I created little pickle people under the premise of a gang war in the fridge between the Claussens and Vlasics, which are two brands of pickles,” she said. “There’s various pickle ‘deaths’ that happened, so each pickle has a different ‘cause of death.’ The kids have to cut them open and figure out what that is, describe all their features and injuries that may or may not have been fatal, and then put it all together in a report.”

Not only were the pickles a unique way to introduce the class and some specific topics, but they also served an important part in the students classroom curriculum.
“Even on people, autopsies are the main real-world application of the directional terminology we learn right at the beginning of the semester,” Hoyle said. “I thought it was a great way to get some practice and give kids an opportunity to work with the terminology we learned in class, it’s something that’s fun and easy. It also introduces the dissection tools that we use later on.”

Not only did the instructor recognize the educational benefits of the activity, but so did the students.
“I thought the pickles were a good way to start off the class,” Engstrom said. “It sort of sets the tone as a fun place to learn, while showing that we still need to know the content pretty well.”

On top of the pickles, Hoyle has also structured the class to give students a more laid back approach to learning about the human body.
“I think everybody has an interest in the human body and how it works and operates, so there’s just so much you can do,” she said. “Keeping it within the semester-long time restraint, I was trying to just add in some more activities, and not so much direct instruction and memorization.”

 Lily Balthazor, a senior also intending to pursue a career in medicine, recognized the enjoyable aspects of the anatomy and physiology class.
“We had hybrid days, which were really nice and gave you some time to study when you needed it,” she said. “Mrs. Hoyle also did fun things like every week like ‘Myth or Medical Monday’ and ‘What The Friday’ where we talked about interesting medical cases that always lead the class into a fun, somewhat side-tracked discussion. But we still always learned something mind blowing.”

Besides adding these changes to integrate a different learning style and make things more lighthearted, Hoyle also thinks they helped manage the stress that’s paired with a tough course like this.
“I know what the workload of the class is like, so trying to give students the freedom to  balance it is important, cause I don’t really necessarily know what their other course load is like,” she said. “I just try and make sure students have time to work on things in class, checking in on what’s going to work with their schedules, and trying to be conscious of how much time we have overall for the semester, while still making sure they can be interested in the class.”

The enthusiasm that comes along with some students is one of Hoyle’s main purposes in not only creating fun labs, but also teaching as a profession.
“I wanted to get kids excited about the same things that excited me as a student, and I enjoy working with young people and seeing them grow,” she said. “As difficult as teaching can be, it’s so rewarding when you see kids get excited about the activities that you put a lot of work into.”

Hoyle’s direction seemingly paid off, as students left the class with a greater grasp on the topic they came in to learn, partially due to the firsthand activities and labs.
“The amount of fun things Hoyle did make the class easier and also helped my comprehension, because they gave you examples of real-world situations,” Engstrom said.

Balthazor agreed that despite the course load, the good that came along with the class outweighed the stress.
“I learned a lot more than I was expecting to in a high school anatomy and physiology class, mainly because it was so hands-on,” she said. “It was probably one of my more difficult classes but it was also the most fun and interesting.”

The class left a lasting impression on its students and created friendships and bonds between everyone involved.
“It got pretty stressful at times, but Mrs. Hoyle and all of my classmates were super helpful when it came to studying,” Balthazor said. “Everyone was so close and fun in the class, and I think we all developed good relationships with each other.”

by Kailey Freund

Published February 24th 2020

Oshkosh West Index Volume 116 Issue 5