Our skin is familiar to us on so many levels, so as we approach modern medicine with our students, we want to explore the various ways in which our layers of skin, their embedded sensors, pores, and other constituent parts help regulate our temperature and keep us safe from the robust world around us.
Using hands-on STEAM allows us to Explore skin at Kids Science Labs. It all begins with evaluating the porosity or permeability of various materials, to allow students to better understand that their skin allows us to sweat through the skin. We also took an experimental journey to look at the physiology of our skin and why sometimes we get scars and other times we do not. Students 9+ in some centers also evaluated our skins’ ability to protect us from sun rays, using ultra-violet beads and various materials to see whether sun light can penetrate the surface of the “skin”. A few of our NexGen Design students also tested thickness of skin and also gaining a deeper understanding of pimples, by testing a custom made inner layer lesion using sodium polyacrylate polymer and pressure. Even a 4-yr old can learn that they have 3 layers of skin, epidermis, dermis, and hypodermis, and thus offers multiple layers of protection from the outside world.
A custom-made heart circulation pump at Kids Science Labs Med School for Kids
Over the course of our Med School Experience for Kids, we had numerous discussions about organs, physiology, and disease. Providing experiences to kids that open their minds to the possibilities that science offers gives us great joy and this week is not only a favorite of our students, but of our dedicated staff as well.