The UNMC Department of Cellular and Integrated Physiology visited Andersen Middle School recently to mark PhUn Week.
The week, more formally known as Physiology Understanding (PhUn) Week, is held annually nationwide by The American Physiology Society.
The purpose of the week is to bring hands-on activities to students at local schools to introduce them to physiology concepts and increase teacher recognition of physiology in their standards-based science curriculum.
This is the fourth consecutive year UNMC volunteers have visited Andersen Middle School. The 10 volunteers included five faculty members, two post-docs, two Ph.D. students and one tech.
“When we entered the school this year, we heard several of the students saying things along the lines of ‘Oh! The people with the sheep lungs are here again!'” said Alicia Schiller, Ph.D., an instructor in the department. “So we have gained some recognition at the school.”
The group met with 13 classes of seventh-grade students, approximately 250 students in all.
The visit’s goal, Dr. Schiller said, is to educate the students on physiology as scientific discipline and also to highlight UNMC as a place for graduate education of medicine and scientific base disciplines.
“The visit has become a tradition at Andersen Middle School,” said faculty member Toni Dierkhising. “It is definitely a well-known event that students look forward to doing during their seventh grade year.”