Journey's 8th graders are immersed in a month-long study of human anatomy. The topic is presented at an age when students' curiosity about human development is naturally heightened.   As students explore the skeleton, joints, and muscles, their studies will connect back to 7th grade science when they learned about the body's levers, and will culminate with experiments on balance. This week students discussed the strength of long bones, which are much stronger than concrete even though they are relatively hollow. They tested the strength of an empty paper cup vs. a cup full of dried beans. Above, Devin has stacked "weight units" on an empty cup to see how many it will hold before breaking. Like our bones, the empty cup was incredibly strong and supported far more weight relative to its own weight than the "solid" cup filled with beans. Students learned that our bones must be very strong to support us, but they must also be very light so we can move! | 
