Ms. Michelle Fagan has a secret. Or rather, a secret trash can where she keeps dead cats for her Anatomy & Physiology class. Throughout the year, students dissect these cats to learn more about human anatomy. The dead cats serve as replacements for cadavers, since both possess a similar internal structure.
“I think it’s an important part, if you’re studying anatomy, to actually look at it and not just look at pictures,” Ms. Fagan said. “What it looks like on the drawings is not what it looks like in real life.”
Each cat belongs to a group of three or four students, who work on the cat from the end of September to the beginning of May. The extensive process and hands-on nature of the project appeals to senior Vincent Lee.
“Instead of doing paperwork that makes you want to quit the class, I liked actually having an interactive lab where you physically do something,” Lee said. “It helps me learn so much better.”
At the beginning of the endeavor, students expressed concern that the dissection would make them sick, but that worry was never realized. Ultimately, the project proved to be a popular success, although one aspect did not have many fans.
“The worst part [was] the smell,” Lee said. “It was awful and I hated it.”
Ms. Fagan’s cat dissection is only one of many famous projects and assignments given each year.
Wherefore Art Thou Individuality?
Extravagant love stories deserve extravagant projects to accompany them. When freshmen studied William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, Ms. Sarah Martin made sure this happened. This is one of the largest projects freshmen complete. Students chose from a myriad of options to display their knowledge about the famous play, whether that be writing a newspaper or song, making a quilt or creating a scrapbook.
“I gave so many options so students could choose something they excel at,” Ms. Martin said. “They don’t always get to thrive in school. I think they like it because they get to show off to their teacher and peers. They get to show a piece of themselves.”
The Face of Competition
Every year after reading the book Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Ms. Lisbeth Bennett assigns Pre-AP English 2 students a new project — create an African mask. The book’s nineteenth-century Nigerian setting displays the roots of African culture. Ms. Bennett designs this as a competition to see which group of students can create the best mask. Students can use any materials they wish any way they want but must justify why and how they use such materials.
“I like this so much because it forces kids to choose everything,” Ms. Bennett said. “Their choices represent writing and how writers make decisions about what words to use and how. They also like it because it’s a competition.”
The Ball Drop Heard Round The School
Among the trebuchets, rockets and mousetrap cars, the bowling ball experiment in Mr. John Davis’ AP Physics 1 class makes the most impact. While studying force, Davis demonstrates how inertia effects how objects fall and land by rolling a bowling ball off a lab table.
“Nobody knew what he was going to do with the bowling ball,” senior Luca Chudoba said. “When he launched it off the desk, the whole class shrieked, not with joy — with terror, because it was insanely loud.”
The experiment occasionally attracts complaints from teachers in surrounding classrooms, who believe the “thump, thump, thump” of the bowling ball is a disturbance, but Davis continues to perform the experiment yearly.
“This project was pretty epic,” Chudoba said. “Throwing a bowling ball off a desk is something to see in the classroom. It’s pretty awesome.”
Political Involvement
“Extra credit” are two words not usually heard in AP classrooms, so when social studies teacher Mr. Craig Rabalais offers it, students jump at the opportunity. The simplicity of the assignment thrills students, who, in order to receive the extra credit, must bring a campaign sign to class. Mr. Rabalais warns students to wait until elections are closed and suggests they retrieve signs from town hall.
“I liked it just because it was different,” senior Steven Moreno said. “You actually get to do something — it was like a scavenger hunt and I liked that.”
(Featured image by Allee Austin)
