Anatomy and Physiology classes visit Penn State College of Medicine

Field trips are normal throughout elementary and middle school, however they are less common in high school. If a field trip takes place in high school, it is normally planned for one specific class, is more of a learning experience, and is taken more seriously. On December 12, the Anatomy and Physiology classes took a field trip to Penn State College of Medicine to take a short tour of the labs and various areas studied there.
The students were split up into three groups, led by Mrs. Farina, one led by Mrs. Sinopoli, and one led by senior Shelby Dougherty. Some of the things students enjoyed were learning how zebrafish can be used to understand the melanin in human skin, seeing how to virtually study various parts of the body, and viewing MRI machines and how to understand the images. Junior Mason Gruber’s favorite part of the field trip was viewing the MRI and other imaging machines. “I found it interesting how such large microscopes and imaging machines were made to take pictures of the smallest particles.”
Sophomore Brooklyn Foote really enjoyed the whole experience. “It was a nice break from school, and I appreciated going to see part of a college even though I am only in tenth grade.” Brooklyn enjoyed visiting Penn State because she is already in the process of deciding what colleges to apply to.
High school field trips are a great way to get students out in the world and see what they could potentially do with their lives. The difference between the goals of a high school field trip and a lower school level field trip is evident however they are all very good learning and enjoyable experiences.