Students at Oakcrest High School came together in math and science classes to study the human heart. Science Teachers Krystine Yarson and Beverly Williams and Mathematics Teacher John Gazo coordinated the project.

Students in their classes learned about the makeup of the heart and labeled diagrams concerning its parts. Then they watched a movie which told the story of the first open heart surgery that was performed in the United States. Next, they completed a project on the mathematics of the heart. Students calculated pulse rates and cardiac output, and observed the effect exercise has on these values. Students then dissected sheep hearts and identified all of the parts. It was then off to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia where they walked through the parts of a “giant” heart and traveled through the popular Body Works exhibit. Here, students were about to observe muscle and skeletal remains of various donors.

“Overall, the project was interesting and educational,” commented Gazo. “In talking with the students, they feel that they now have a deeper understanding of how the body works and the importance of the human heart.”

For more information, contact:
Darlene A. Kopania, Journalism Department
909-2631