Advances in Physiology Education, Vol 270, Issue 6 1-18, Copyright © 1996 by American Physiological Society
Model demonstrating respiratory mechanics for high school students
V. Chan, J. Pisegna, R. Rosian and S. E. DiCarlo
Department of Physiology, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine, Rootstown 44272, USA.
We wanted to develop educational materials appropriate for the high school
student which would present physiological concepts in an innovative way.
The impetus was in response to the lack of physiology educational materials
appropriate for the high school level. To this end, we developed an
exercise that presents the physiological basis for respiratory mechanics.
The materials were designed to engage students in interactive learning and
to stimulate interest for future science study. The emphasis of the
exercise was the construction of a model that could be built by high school
students to demonstrate respiratory mechanics. The use of models to present
complex materials has been shown to be an effective medium for science
learning. Our exercise contains directions for an inexpensive,
easy-to-build model, as well as many supplemental teaching tools. Questions
are interspersed throughout the text and at the end of the laboratory
experience to facilitate the learning process. Answers are provided to the
questions. Students and teachers alike are challenged to build, manipulate,
and discuss their experience during the investigation of respiratory
mechanics.
