1. The Effective Use of Stations to Teach Elementary Students in a Small Classroom Setting About Cardiopulmonary Physiology Michael J. Ryan, Keisa W. Mathis, Marcia Venegas-Pont, C. Warren Masterson University of Mississippi Medical Center Department of Physiology & Biophysics

2. Purpose: To teach third and fifth grade elementary school students with limited classroom space about how the heart and lung work together to meet tissue demands. Methods: The team coordinated with 3 rd and 5 th grade elementary school teachers in Brandon, MS. The class sizes ranged from 22-27 students and the physical class size was limited to 600 square feet. Three activities were prepared and tested in advance. Activity 1 (Magnificent Microscopes) allowed students to view healthy and diseased lung and heart tissue at the cellular level using a light microscope. Students viewed a video showing the mechanics of how lungs work in Activity 2 (Luxurious Lungs) and then built a working model of the lungs using balloons, tubing, rubber bands, and an empty plastic two liter bottle. Students traced the path of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood through the heart, lung, and body during Activity 3 (Circulation Disco) by walking from “organ to organ” and exchanging red towels with blue towels to demonstrate the concept of gas exchange. Each class was divided into three and at the conclusion of the activity (10-15 minutes), students moved to the next station. Results and Conclusion. At the end of the visit, students were able to describe basic lung mechanics, blood flow through the cardiopulmonary system, and the principal of gas exchange in peripheral organs and lungs. The use of stations in an environment with restricted physical space is an effective way to demonstrate scientific principles to elementary school children. ABSTRACT

3. Methods Classroom Layout 20’ 30’ -Elementary school children learned about how the heart and lungs work in concert to deliver blood to peripheral tissues. -The classroom size was small (see layout) and congested, and therefore imposed physical constraints on the planned activities. -In order to overcome these limitation, three activities were devised and conducted as stations. The class was divided into three groups. Activity 1 “Magnificent Microscopes” Activity 2 “Circulation Disco” Activity 3 “Luxurious Lungs” - Prior to the visit, our team coordinated with the classroom teacher who explained what Physiology is to the students. The students were prompted to write a question about Physiology to be answered in an activity called “Ask a Physiologist”. This activity was used as a way to settle the class, summarize what was learned, and answer questions that the students asked.

4. Station 1- Magnificent Microscopes “Magnificent Microscopes” began with discussion about the anatomy of the heart and lungs using illustrations. After the introduction students used light microscope that we brought to view heart and lung tissue at the cellular level. Slides included healthy heart and lung tissue as well as tissue from patients who suffered a heart attack or with emphysema.

5. Station 2- Circulation Disco “Circulation Disco” began with discussion about how gases are exchanged at the lungs and peripheral tissues with the heart acting as the pump. Students were assigned a role to be either the heart, lung, peripheral tissue, or blood. Blue an red handkerchiefs were used to denote deoxygenated and oxygenated blood. Students followed the path of blood and exchanged “gases” at the peripheral tissues and in the lungs.

6. Station 3- Luxurious Lungs “Luxurious Lungs” began with a short internet video about the mechanics of the lung. This was reinforced using a diagram and discussion about lung mechanics and gas exchange (see photo). Finally, students were able to build a working model of the lungs using a plastic bottle, balloons, tubing, rubber band, play dough, and rubber glove.

7. Ask a Physiologist “Ask a Physiologist” allowed time to summarize what was learned during PhUn Week activities. The questions that were submitted before our visit were then selected at random and answered. Typical questions were “Do the wrinkles in your brain tell how smart you are?”, “What is Asthma?” and “Why do I get tired when I exercise?”.

8. Summary and Conclusions  Students were able to describe the basic anatomy of the heart and lungs  Students understood the concept of gas exchange and the importance of a healthy heart and lungs to coordinate this. At the conclusion of the event: This event demonstrates that:  The physical constraints of a small classroom can be overcome when planning outreach activities.  The use of stations that incorporate hands on activities in the classroom is an effective way for students to learn physiological concepts.