Heidi A. Everett
Students are often intrigued with a description or a visual of the gore associated with an injury or a disease affecting human anatomy. This unit begins each lesson with a hypothetical situation where an individual has been afflicted by a certain disease or an injury that impairs one of the senses. My reasoning in using this approach is multi-faceted. First, this introduction feeds the students' innate desire to see how human anatomy can be disfigured and diseased, and will retain their attention and interest. This interest will motivate the students to recognize and develop their skills of scientific inquiry.
The desire to see parts of human anatomy that are typically unseen provides the students with opportunities to brainstorm as to the important role injuries and diseases play in the altering of human health. Scientists start with an observation of a certain natural phenomenon and then ask questions relating to their observations in order to explain and determine the cause of their observations. This process is the basis of the scientific method, the method with which scientists have made the advances in our knowledge of human anatomy and physiology. The increased understanding of the processes that underlie within human anatomy allows for scientists to develop cures for various injuries and diseases. Any increase in the awareness and understanding of a disease or an injury also provides critical information as to how to educate the general public in preventing an injury or a disease from taking place.
Science and technology play a key role in this unit as it is one of the main contributors of our current advancement in understanding human anatomy. The medical community is continually making advances in health care due to better medical imaging technology, surgical equipment, and precise medical tests. Although most technology is used to treat an injury or disease rather then prevention, one cannot ignore how the contribution of science and technology in medicine has increased the quality of life as well as the longevity of life.
