Our Homeschool Field Trip to Body World

We finally got to take our homeschool field trip to Body World.  We had to put it off for several weeks due to our celebration of the early spring allergy season in Phoenix and to Daughter’s classes and my work schedule.  But we selected a day, I arranged to take off work, we bought the tickets on-line, fought the traffic snarls in downtown Phoenix created by construction of the light-rail project, drove around the parking garage until we found a spot in the lowest level, wove our way up to the entrance to the museum, waited in line to get our ID bracelets and in line again to get into the exhibit, and presto- there we were.

And it was worth it.  The exhibit is absolutely fascinating and I highly recommend it.  The plastinated models are posed in various actions and are displayed to illustrate how the muscles and tendons and bones look in those positions.  I especially enjoyed the film about how the plastinated models are created, with each model taking about a year to prepare.

As an educational exercise, the exhibit is outstanding.  Many of the attendees were in the medical field and there were several medical students, too.  Daughter called upon her nursing school lessons to explain anatomical functions, and we let The Boy pose himself as much as he was able in the postures of the models so that he could understand what his body was doing, how his joints move, muscles shorten and lengthen, where the tendons are connected.

I was unprepared (I don’t know why) for the artistic nature of the exhibit.  The curl of a finger or tilt of a head, the muscles bunching in a shoulder, or the way the bones of a foot look when the toes are pointed- all were displayed and illustrated in such a graceful and sculptural manner.

There was so much to absorb from Body World that I’m sure it will take some time to assimilate.  We had a little discussion this morning about the exhibit that depicts the difference between the lungs of a non-smoker and a smoker.  I think The Boy is preparing to talk to his grandpa; we’ll see how that goes.

All in all, it was worth the effort to get ourselves there.  I hope you get a chance to see it.

Borders Supports Homeschoolers

I don’t know if the policy at Borders (books and music) is the same in other areas, but here in Phoenix they are great supporters of homeschoolers. Yesterday we visited a local Borders in search of new workbooks. The Boy zoomed through his remaining first-grade workbooks and is nearly through the second-grade workbooks we bought a couple of months ago. We found some great third-grade language, science and math workbooks and a special anatomy book for children that we thought would be helpful to use in preparation for our trip to Body Worlds 3 in a couple of weeks. Signs throughout the store advertised Educator Savings Week with 25% off for educators. We asked if homeschoolers are eligible for the discount and were immediately given an enrollment form, no questions asked and no proof of our homeschool status needed. I had a coupon to use for our purchases yesterday, so we decided to return in two weeks for the Educator Savings sale and stock up on other workbooks and such. Needless to say, I am a big fan of Borders!

Homeschooling at Body World: A Science Experiment

Do you know about the exhibit known as Body World? This is the exhibit involving plastinated human bodies. Very controversial, from the comments I’ve read. Well, it’s here in Phoenix and we’re taking The Boy to see it Monday. Daughter is in nursing school, so this is right up her alley. The Boy (6-years old, reads everything he can get his hands on) has been following advertisements for the exhibit in the paper and on TV. He has been asking to go to the exhibit since the first advertisement he saw. Monday is a holiday for me, so naturally, instead of indulging in a new book or playing on the computer, I’m going to look at plastinated bodies. Not sure how I feel about that, but I’ll let you know. Have you seen it?