The Mount Pleasant High School Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) classes recently went hog wild during a lesson on the Integumentary System, or the outer layer of the body made up of the skin, hair, nails, and associated glands. The students squealed with joy when they learned the lab assignment involved pigs’ feet instead of each other. In the lab, the students were able to see the layers of the skin, assess the different types of tissue in each layer, feel bone tissue, and learn how to suture. A&P instructors, Kristi Houchin and Sarah Carrell, demonstrated how to perform the suturing, then let the students practice on the pigs’ feet. The students were definitely not “boared” as the assignment allowed them to take all the material they had learned in the classroom and apply it in the lab setting. And while they might have felt like professionals after the lab assignment, they were given the disclaimer that they are not yet fully certified to suture after practicing it once in the lab.

Anatomy and Physiology is part of the Health Science program at Mount Pleasant High School but is also a science credit available to all juniors and seniors. Students in Anatomy and Physiology study a variety of topics including the structure and function of the human body and the interaction of body systems for maintaining homeostasis. For more information about A&P or the Health Science program, contact the MPHS Director of Career and Technical Education, Karl Whitehurst.

Photos:

1: Beverly Zuniga (left) practices suturing while MPHS A&P instructor, Kristi Houchin) walks Luis Alvarado and Analee Escalante through the procedure

2: MPHS A&P instructor, Sarah Carrell, demonstrates suturing for (L to R) Elizabeth Sauceda, Krislynn Taylor, Marianna Torres, Evelyn Monreal, and Evangelina Garcia