SAD 70 science students dissect sheep brains

    HODGDON — Mill Pond School and Hodgdon High School Gifted and Talented students in grades 3-12, along with high school students pursuing fields in pre-med, biology and nursing worked side-by-side to complete a hands-on sheep brain dissection.  Five elementary, nine middle school, and 12 high school students participated in this lab.  
    This Adventure in Medicine and Science video conference allowed students to observe differences and similarities between a sheep brain and a human brain. It also provided useful information about the function of the brain.  Students were able to see and compare a healthy human brain specimen to that of several diseased human brain specimens including Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, alcoholism, and a brain tumor. 
Contributed photo
UP CLOSE — Hodgdon students Rachel Harmon, left, and Kaitlynne Dorr dissect a sheep’s brain during a recent science project at Mill Pond School.
    The presenter, Ray Vollmer MBA, director of Practical Anatomy and Surgical Education, taught this class via a video conference connecting Tandberg technology from his lab at the Saint Louis University of Missouri to the equipment at Mill Pond School.  This program allowed for a two-way communication with demonstration, visualization, and question and answers.
    The video conference field trip was set up through the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC).  CILC is a clearinghouse for a wide variety of interactive video experiences.  With this technology, Hodgdon schools have the ability to provide new resources for the Gifted and Talented program. 
Contributed photo
HANDS ON — Hodgdon students, from left, Toni Gillotti, Molly Veysey and Kimberly Levesque examine a sheep’s brain during a science class last week at the school.
    This session was a great opportunity for a collaborative effort across grade levels from elementary to high school.  It also gave students the opportunity to interact with a person that has specific training in the subject area.  Using the Tandberg equipment provides opportunities otherwise unavailable to local students.