PHOTO ESSAY: Skeletons in the Closet

In Lecturer Tiffany Hoage's Anatomy and Physiology class, six groups of students have teamed up at stations in a clean, sterile lab in the Jarvis Hall Science Wing that is surprisingly splashed with color.

Full-body, plastic musculo-skeletal models display removable gray plastic lungs, deep-maroon hearts, white intestinal tracts, esophagi, tracheas and vertebrae. Blue arteries and red veins run the length of the models like color-coded roadways.

A plastic skeleton has bones in every color of the rainbow, representing different anatomical regions of the body. A dozen miniature plastic skeletons line glass-fronted cabinets, like curious dolls on parade.

You immediately see the strange beauty, function and organization of the interior of the human body. The scratchy, zipper-like sound of Scotch tape ripping from rolls echoes across the room as students are busy labeling and removing "body parts" that line the lab station counters.

Students in Anatomy and Physiology typically pursue bachelor of science degrees in applied biochemistry and molecular biology; applied science; dietetics; or health, wellness and fitness. But being a general education class, the students in this class section represent 11 different programs.

Students work together on an osmosis experiment, making a buccal (cheek) smear and peering into microscopes to observe how cheek cells react in a starch solution surrounded by an iodine solution.

"They're exploring the world of cells. The cheek cells look like eggs in a frying pan. The 'yolk' is the nucleus and appears yellow because of the iodine stain," Hoage explained.

"Water will go into the cell via osmosis, causing the cell to swell. Iodine will enter the cell via diffusion and react with the starch to produce a purple color. The concept of osmosis is important because if an IV solution does not contain the appropriate saline concentration, red blood cells can swell and burst or shrivel, respectfully," she added.

A student jots notes in a notebook with a pattern of insects adorning the cover. Teams study handouts labeling parts of the microscope and parts of the cell - the mitochondria that produce energy and mediate cell growth and death; the hair-like cilia responsible for movement; ribosomes that synthesize proteins; and the spherical nucleus, the cell's control center; and more. They use tags to identify parts on the large plastic cell models.

In a tattoo activity, they practice using anatomical terms and tape measurers to determine tattoo locations. And in another activity, they sculpt models of the human head and face using small chunks of blue, green, red and yellow modeling clay to the study the symmetry of the skull. They mold the clay in the palms of their hands and shape miniature cheek bones, eyes, mouths, ears and the bridge of the nose, each face unique to its designer.

"It's not very good," jokes Lacey Mader, holding up her creation.

Mader, of Buffalo, Minn., and Kael Lamb are juniors in health, wellness and fitness, and both are interested in working with athletes in their careers.

"I took this class to learn more about the human body and how it functions. I'm excited that it will eventually help me in my internship and future job," said Mader, who wants to work in athletic therapy.

Lamb, of Plainview, Minn., is on the Blue Devils football team. He's hoping to intern at ETS, an alumni-owned training center, and train athletes as a career. "The hands-on experiences give me a deeper understanding of how the body works and moves, more than just terms and words to memorize," he said.