Desert Vista Elementary Students Have a Bone to Pick (but in a good way)

APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. - Oct. 29, 2019 - PRLog -- Students in three classrooms (and grade levels) at Desert Vista Elementary School, 3701 E. Broadway Ave. in Apache Junction had a bone to pick with each other, but the "joint" project was a cooperative learning experience about anatomy, not a quarrel.

Students in Mrs. Laura Folsom's 6th grade class along with her buddy classes, Mr. Michael Brown's 3rd grade and Mrs. Ginger Bailey's 2nd grade classroom worked on a project where students learned about the bones and joints of the hands.

The hands-on anatomy lesson started with students exploring and investigating their own palms and digits. The students bent their fingers and moved their wrists and made observations. They traced their hands, and then they took note of where their fingers bend (at the joint) and made marks on their traced hand at every bend. Once they added the bend for their wrists and knuckles, they added in the bones that they could feel.  Next the students looked at a picture of an X-ray to see the wrist bones, long bones, and the radius and ulna and reconstructed what they saw on a drawing they made.  After drawing those bones, they colored in their hands, put oil on the bones and had their own artistic representation of their own X-ray version of their hands.

"This lesson was more than a fun project, students combined science and art to learn about something they use every day – their hands," said Pat Smith, principal at DVES. "All of our school projects tie directly to curriculum-based learning. However, combining classes and grade levels on team projects like this also fosters teamwork and creates harmony within the school environment. It was a great learning experience students  will remember for many years to come."

Desert Vista is a Be Kind school where each day students and staff practice the 10 tenants that make a difference in the lives of others. Each day DVES students proudly share how they actively demonstrate their kindness to others by being respectful, being compassionate, or simply by being a friend!

For more information about AJUSD schools call 480-982-1110, or visit www.ajusd.org.