Discovering health matters: children learn first-hand how the human body works
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An unique project using hands-on experiments to show school children how their lifestyles affect their bodies has been launched by scientists and educators at the University of Southampton and Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust.
An unique project using hands-on experiments to show school children how their lifestyles affect their bodies has been launched by scientists and educators at the University of Southampton and Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust.
'LifeLab' has been running as a pilot scheme involving pupils from Upper Shirley High School and Redbridge Community School but will soon be made available to all schools in the city and eventually in Hampshire.
Using a laboratory at Southampton General Hospital, year 9 pupils spend a day learning:
- to extract their own DNA and turn it into a image
- how to measure glucose levels transferred across a placenta
- to use ultrasound to see the structure of blood vessels
- to examine the structure of our bones and find out how important balanced diet is
- to measure muscle strength
"All the workshops are designed to show the relationship between our lifestyles and our health," comments Professor Hazel Inskip , from the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre at the University of Southampton and a founder of 'LifeLab'. "We believe that this initiative will make a real difference to problems such as poor diet and obesity. We will evaluate the pioneering scheme as it runs, to see how to maximise its impact."
On 5 November 2010, organisers, teachers and children involved in the pilot scheme will meet for an open day to speak about the project and showcase their experiences.
Dr Marcus Grace, from the University's School of Education, comments: "It's vitally important that children are given the chance to learn about how the lifestyle they lead now can impact on their health in later life, and the health of their future children. The LifeLab project gets them thinking about health and lifestyle issues and gives them the information they need to make choices now and in the future."
'LifeLab' is a collaboration between the University's Schools of Medicine and Education, the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Resource Centre , the Science Learning Centre South East , Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust , Southampton City Council and local schools.