🟢🟡🧫 🧬Reynolds Middle sixth graders brought hands-on learning into focus last week with a memorable lesson.
To learn more about light, optics, and anatomy, students from two classes teamed up to dissect cow eyes and study their structures. By carefully cutting into different parts of the eyes, the students saw and felt what they previously only knew through pages and screens. They also practiced precision and teamwork.
“My favorite part of this dissection was being able to see specific parts like the lens,” said Evana, one of the students. “I also enjoyed working together as a team.”
Student reactions varied from excited to disgusted, but the lesson will stick with them, said sixth grade science teacher Jennifer Williams.
“Students will always remember doing the dissection,” she said. “Doing hands-on activities is so important for our students. It keeps students engaged in the activity and helps them to remember the different parts of the eye.”
“The value of this project is student engagement,” added fellow sixth grade science teacher Misty Collins. “This lab required them to be extremely focused so they could make precise cuts and identify specific parts of the cow eye. It also provided many students an opportunity to participate in something out of their comfort zone.”