An Exploration of The Body & How it Works

Ms. Sweet and Mrs. Dominique in The Experiential School of Tampa Bay set up a play hospital center in an Alpha classroom with no explanation on how to use it. As the children explored the new materials in the hospital center, teachers observed them as they played and listened carefully for the connections they were making to further classroom inquiry. 

Initial Observations:
Violet: "Hello! Thanks for calling the hospital- we are busy. Hey! Someone needs to pay. Hey! Your baby has a stuffy nose and it’s sick."
Navya: "Let me check your heart."
George: "I have to call 999111. Hello, my baby is sick. It needs to go to the doctor. Get the baby!"
Lodi: "Are you ready baby? Look at this picture - it has bones in it. Be still."
Jacob: (pulls a card in and out of a machine and sings) "The tracker, the tracker! What is this for? How can I use this? Do you know?"
Ava: "This baby is running a fever. Maybe it needs a little bit of medicine. 911, hello you have a sick person? I’m sorry you’ll have to wait. We already have a lot of sick babies."
Ahmed: "Check my baby's heart please."
Florence: "Do you want to hear this? It’s a heartbeat."
Ronan: "Hi Doctor, you look pretty!"

During morning meeting, the teachers asked the children, "What would you like to name your hospital/clinic?" The children came up with the following names: Hospital, Doctor, Hospital Doctor, and School Hospital. The children then voted for the name they liked best. They chose “School Hospital.” The children showed interest in writing letters so their teachers encouraged each one to write one letter for the sign for their hospital. They also drew pictures of the patients.

Questions that furthered their inquiry: 
What do we know about bones?
Ahmed: "When you break them you say ouch!"
Lodi: "Bones can come out of your head, Doctors help."
Jacob: "You can hurt them."
George: "Bones are hard."
Ava: "Bones are white."
London P.: "They are hard when I feel them."

Where do we find bones?
Navya: "At the doctors."
Conor: "Spooky places."
London P.: "Halloween."
Lodi: "Spooky upstairs."
Ronan: "Haunted Houses."

What are these? (Teacher holds up an X-ray)
Ava: "A skeleton that broke their leg."
George: "Broken Skeleton."
Conor: "A shape."
Nayva & London P.: "Skeleton bones."
Lodi: "Hand and foot."
Florence: "Children’s bones."
Ahmed: "Broken hands."

Do you have a skeleton?
Conor: "My mommy gave me a book of bones."
Ahmed & Violet: "At home."
London M. & Florence: "No."
Lodi: "It’s packed away at the house."
Hudson: "A skeleton book & other Halloween stuff."
Lincoln: "It’s at home."
George: "Yes, in my bathroom."
Ford: "I have one at home."

The students wanted to know if Shorecrest had a skeleton, so Mrs. Lisa Peck from the Upper School's Peck Center for Medical Sciences visited the classroom. She brought a real skeleton to share with the class. She also shared information about how bodies work.

More thinking questions:
Who fixes your bones if they break?
Conor: "A hospital."
Lodi: "If you break a bone you have to go to the doctor."
Ahmed: "The doctor."
Ava: "The School Hospital."

After learning about their skeletons, the students wanted to know what would happen to their bones if they broke, who would fix them, and how they were fixed. They did a science experiment to find out why bones break and learned what they could eat and drink to make their bones stronger and healthier.

How do we fix bones?
Ava: "They use an x-ray to check."
Violet: "X-ray and a cane."
Ahmed: "They put a Band-Aid on their arm."
Ronan: "They use pliers."

The teachers noticed that the students were starting to make the connection that bones were inside their bodies, and that the xrays in their play hospital were pictures of them. They asked the students, "What do you think is the biggest bone inside your body?"

London M: "Arm."
Lodi: "Leg! And the hip."
Ahmed: "The back"
Florence: "Lungs."
London P: "Head bone."
Ford and Navya: "Tummy."
George: "The body!"
Ronan: "The belly."

What else is inside your body? 
Violet: "Blood. Nothing else."
Florence: "Bones and blood."
Navya: "A big tummy! A baby can be inside your body!"
George: "A skeleton, bones, arms, and pee pee!"
Ava: "Blood, bones, a skeleton!"

Next, the Chargers traced their bodies, and put pictures of organs into the outline. The students drew their own pictures of organs and labeled them with support from adults. The sensory tray was updated with items to represent what blood looks like, complete with red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. 

The students also visited the nurse's Clinic. George asked, "How do you give shots?" London P. asked, "How do you do check ups?"

A class parent who is a pediatrician visited. He spoke about his job, and showed some of his tools, including a tongue depressor and a stethoscope. After the visit, teachers asked the students, "What does a doctor do?"

Ronan: "He has a stick to check your throat."
Florence: "He gives shots to people."
George: "Gives shots!"
Conor: "Makes you feel better."
Violet: "Puts a stick in your mouth."
Navya: "Gives shots, makes you open your mouth and say ahhh!”
Lodi: "Gives shots and gives medicine."
Jacob: "Has a stethoscope."

Find lots of Body Inquiry photos here.