Kids will be sure to remember what a human heart looks like if they cut it out themselves – cut it out of paper, that is. Felt works beautifully, too. The idea is simply to let your students get hands-on with anatomy, by creating handmade models of the human body and internal organs.
Since the complexity of this project can be increased by requiring a greater level of detail and accuracy, it is suitable for science classes of any grade level. However, the primary exercise in this article is designed for elementary school students.
For your convenience, we have formatted the main activity in a printable, downloadable document.
In addition, this article includes a blood-flow/circulation project from Science Buddies, suitable for grades 4-8, and a model lungs project from Teach Engineering, for middle or high school age students. We also include examples of affordable anatomy model kits you can buy online, to use as hands-on tools in class.
Rather than take money from your own pocket for these activity supplies, why not simply win them from Envision? It’s easy. Just share your own approach to hands-on learning, in our Comments section below. How do hands-on learning activities enhance your students’ classroom experience?
We’ll select four winners at random from those that share their comments. Winners will each receive a $25 donation through Adopt-A-Classroom.org, to use toward classroom supplies and teaching tools such as those described in these science activities. Winners’ will be announced on February 29.
Elementary Age Project: Simple Materials, Simple Instructions
The objective of this hands-on activity is to help your students learn about human anatomy, by creating life-sized paper or felt models.
You will need the following supplies:
- Large pieces of cardboard or sign board, to act as the base
- Multiple pieces of craft paper, construction paper, or sheets of felt, in as many colors as possible
- Several sets of kid-friendly scissors
- Diagrams or illustrations of the human form and internal organs
To conduct the activity:
- Lead a class discussion on human anatomy, including the functionality of each body part you wish to study. Use illustrations, which will later guide the students as they make their own models.
- Divide the students into pairs or small groups.
- Distribute supplies, so that each group has scissors, colored paper or felt, and a suitable base on which to build (cardboard or sturdy paper).
- Tell each group to elect their “model,” who will lie down on the paper base to be traced. Another group member will take chalk, a marker or crayon, and trace the outline of the model’s body. You can choose to do full-body models, or focus on the torso, neck and head.
- Once each group has their life-sized, body-shaped base, they can work individually to create paper or felt versions of the internal organs, which they will then glue in the appropriate spots. You will provide the list of the organs they must include. Let the members of the group decide who will be responsible for which organs.
For very young students, you may wish to focus simply on the external parts of the body. Once they have drawn and cut out their traced outline, they can label the body parts, such as head, arms, chest, stomach, etc.
Download this activity here.
Other hands-on anatomy projects we’d like to share:
Modeling Blood Flow with Straws
This science activity from Science Buddies helps students grades 4-8 understand the relationship between blood flow and a healthy – or diseased – heart. They will build a model of a healthy artery and a partially blocked artery, to compare blood flow, using everyday materials such as cups, straws, food-coloring and baking pans.
Straws of different diameters illustrate the difference between healthy or plaque-clogged arteries. With approximately 10 minutes of preparation and 10 minutes of activity time, the students can evaluate the rate of blood flow with their own eyes. This hands-on activity should accompany a discussion of the circulatory system and the health benefits of proper blood flow. Details are available at the link provided.
Just Breathe – Creating a Model of the Lungs
Teach Engineering offers another great hands-on science project, in which middle or high school students build their own set of model lungs, once again using everyday materials. After this activity, students should be able to describe the function of the respiratory system, explain lung activity during inhaling and exhaling, and give examples of engineering advancements that have helped human respiration.
Information available at the link provided includes:
- Materials list
- Detailed activity instructions
- Illustrative images
- Student worksheets and other resources
- Assessment exercises
Models and Kits You Can Buy
Your science students may also enjoy working with professionally-made anatomy models. Online resources are almost unlimited; we’ve researched a few affordable suggestions for you:
Anatomy Warehouse offers a “budget” torso anatomy model called Little Joe, for $32.70. This life-like model dissects into fifteen parts: torso, posterior section of the head, brain (2 parts), trachea, lungs (4 parts), heart, liver, stomach, intestine, and kidney with pancreas. The Little Joe Torso is mounted on a plastic base. This model is best for younger students.
SmartLab makes a variety of fun anatomy models, including the “Squishy Body” with removable organs and forceps, and the “Human Body: You Explore It” kit. These are available through a variety of online purchase options, including Target and Amazon, which are less expensive than the SmartLab website (approximately $20 vs. $28).
Learning Resources offers a more advanced kit for $84.99, although we found what appears to be the same thing on Amazon for $51.45. With this detailed kit, students manipulate the inner workings of the human body as they build the models, gaining a deeper understanding of how organs and systems interact. Each of the plastic models in the kit includes a display stand, facts guide and step-by-step, photo-illustrated assembly instructions.
This resource is four kits in one:
- Heart – featuring ventricles, atria, arteries, valves, aorta, etc.
- Brain – featuring cerebellum, lobes, corpus callosum, brain stem, hippocampus, etc.
- Human Body – featuring brain, skull, heart, lungs, liver, stomach, pancreas, kidneys, intestines
- Skeleton – featuring skull, rib cage, spinal column, radius, ulna, hand, pelvis, femur, tibia, fibula, foot and partial circulatory system
One of our missions at Envision is to put learning back in the hands of the students, so that lessons take on real meaning, relevant to the world around them, and possibly to future careers. We make it fun for you to share in this effort, by offering prizes! Don’t forget to post your own hands-on activity experience in our Comments section, and earn a chance to win $25 in classroom supplies.
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