Fieldston Middle 7th Graders applied classroom learning in experiential projects involving everything from a delicious game day snack to millennia-old mummies in support of their cell biology studies. Ahead of a grade-wide field trip to the DNA Learning Center in Brooklyn, students in Science Teacher Courtnay Hull’s classes celebrated Super Bowl week with a laboratory experiment using chicken wings.
“This activity served as the foundation for their study of how living things heal,” Hull shares. “After analyzing the skin, bone, and connective tissue of the chicken wing at the cellular level, students have now shifted their focus to examining differences in structures on the microscopic level. Using microscopes, they are investigating the unique cells that make up these structures, deepening their understanding of biological repair and regeneration.”
7th Graders began by investigating chicken wings with the goal of adjusting parts to study their interactions, as the chicken wing is a homologous structure to the human arm. Students were then instructed to use dissecting scissors to carefully remove as much skin from the wing as possible without damaging the inner structures. They then observed how the skin connected to the rest of the wing and if the top layer of skin’s appearance differed from what was underneath. As a pair of students studied their wings, one remarked on the doughy texture of the muscle underneath the skin, while another group noticed the veins within their wings.
“Something I found very interesting to learn about were homologous structures, especially when it’s a chicken wing and a human arm!” says Sage M. ’30. “I found this interesting because it means that two structures share a common evolutionary origin. I used to wonder about structures like that, but never knew why they looked similar. I’m glad I know now!”
“This hands-on investigation helped students understand how bones, muscles, and joints work together to create movement,” Hull says, noting that the dissection was a way to explore the relationship between structure and function. “By carefully examining the skin, bone, and connective tissue, they could see firsthand how different parts of the body interact.”
It wasn’t a definition from a textbook, or a general idea of how genetics worked, but it was a hands-on and activity-packed experiment that really highlighted everything we had learned.
After acquiring this foundational knowledge, Hull’s classes and Science Teacher Daniel Medrano’s classes visited the DNA Learning Center to explore key concepts in cell biology and genetics through interactive lab work. Upon arrival, students explored an exhibit on Ötzi the Iceman, a 5,000-year-old mummy whose genetic material provides insights into ancient health, ancestry, and migration. With the help of exhibit displays, 7th Graders completed a scavenger hunt about Ötzi, searching the room for facts such as the variations in the iceman’s DNA and the location of the arrow wound suspected to have caused Ötzi’s death.
“By analyzing his DNA and artifacts, scientists have uncovered details about his diet, environment, and lifestyle,” Hull notes. “This demonstrated to students how genetics bridges science, history, and archaeology.”
Students then hit the lab to conduct gene therapy and DNA fingerprinting experiments, strengthening their knowledge of DNA, genetic engineering, and biotechnology while utilizing essential laboratory techniques.
In their gene therapy lab, the 7th Graders experimented with how genetically modified bacteria impact survival function, which inspired a conversation about the ethics of manufacturing genes in one group. They considered the perspective of forensic scientists for their DNA fingerprinting lab, using enzymes and gel electrophoresis to analyze genetic differences.
“This immersive experience sparked curiosity, encouraged critical thinking, and highlighted the real-world impact of genetics,” Hull says.
“The field trip was not only fun, but I learned a lot and had lots of new information that I could walk away with afterwards,” Abby I. ’30 says. “We had learned about DNA and genetics before, but doing the lab experiments really opened my eyes to it and gave me a better understanding of everything. It wasn’t a definition from a textbook, or a general idea of how genetics worked, but it was a hands-on and activity-packed experiment that really highlighted everything we had learned.”
