Science Inquiry in Action: Demystifying Blue Veins and Morning E*ections

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Human anatomy class. A student who reported about the reproductive system made mention that among males the passageway both for urine and semen are the same. And that when the pe*is is supplied with blood, a flap of tissue partly closes the bladder which explains why it is impossible for males to urinate while having an e*ection. A student raised a query.

Morning E*ections

Student 1: Why is it that the pe*is gets erect every morning?
Student 2 (Girl): Is it really always in the morning?
Student 1: Yes! I really wonder why. You told us that sensual stimuli can cause an e*ection but what about this one? There are no stimuli yet in the morning. No magazines, videos or whatsoever.
Me: Are you speaking of wet dreams? According to psychologists this is the signal that you are already reproductive, which means that you can already make babies. It happens during puberty.
Student 3 (Young Mom): But I have observed sir that my baby boy is also having an e*ection in the morning. Of course he doesn’t know anything yet about s*x. Why is that so?
Me: Very good area for investigation. You know, this a test if you really would become good biology teachers. In my case, I am restless until I find answer to my questions. I hope you are too. Hope to hear from you next meeting!

The following meeting no one did research to my dismay. I already made my own but I did not make things easy for them. I reminded them of my last line the previous meeting. And I challenged them that if this is how they would address issues that they themselves formulated, then I would feel sorry for their students in the future. I also added one more to research. While I was coming back to the faculty room last meeting, a student ran after me and asked me this:

Blue Veins

Student: Sir, are the veins really blue? I am puzzled because in most of the books we read and in different illustrations veins are colored blue and arteries, red.
Me: Wow, that’s a very good question! Do you think they’re really blue?
Student: Probably sir because bloods in the veins have more carbon dioxide right? So that makes the color of the blood blue. Because it’s dirty!
Me: I think it’s still red!
Student: No sir, it’s blue or bluegreen. Look at your veins!
Me: (Checked the veins in my wrist.) It looks like, but I think it’s still red.
Student: How come?
Me: Better research that and I must hear from you next meeting!

(still the student did not research about it)

So I asked my class to investigate about the two questions…

The following meeting, I was happy because each one was holding computer printed reading materials about the two big questions. So, I started checking their understandings:

Demystifying Blue Veins

Student 1: It’s really blue sir. That’s what’s written here.
Student 2: Yes sir, it’s blue.
Me: Did you come up with the same result?
Everybody: Yes sir!
Me: Can you please read aloud what have you researched?
Student 1: Veins appeared to be blue because….
Me: So it says, they just appear to be blue, right? Did it say, it’s blue? Please read on.

(During the reading, it appeared that students did not understand the explanation. So I scaffolded their understanding by checking every line of the paragraph read. And asked them once more.

Me: So, are the veins really blue?
Students: No. They are dark red!
Me: What makes them dark red?
Students: The carbon dioxide and some impurities.
Me: So why do they appear to be blue?
Students: Because beneath the inner layer of the skin (subcutaneous), there’s a fat (yellow) that blocks the light to penetrate deep down. The combined reflection of dark red blood and yellow fats caused the veins to appear blue.

(Everyone was laughing on that realization.)

Demystifying Morning E*ections

Now let’s proceed to the morning e#ection. What have you researched?

Student: It is because of a full bladder.
Me: Are you sure? In my case I have experienced a dozen times of bladder overload but when I pee, I don’t get a h*rd-on. And so are you (referring to the boys), right?
Boys: Yes sir!
Me: What did you have there?
Student 1: It’s difficult to understand. It says here it is associated with the REM.
Me: And what is REM?
Student 1: Rapid Eye Movement
Me: And when do we experience rapid eye movement? (no one answered so I switched code.) Kauno nagsasalikar ka ato mga mata?
Everyone: (burst into laughter).
Me: Recall your psychology. When we are sleeping, what is associated with rapid eye movement?
Student: Dreams?
Me: Are you sure?
Everyone: Yes, sir dreams!

(According to studies, morning e*ection happens during the REM part of sleeping. Of course, not everyone has the capacity to remember their dreams and so they could say they have an e*ection even if they didn’t dream. It could be also that at the middle of the dream, it was interrupted and a boy/man wakes up still having an e*ection. So this infers that a physiological activity happens to artery leading to the pe*is when males dream. A part of the brain (perhaps the hypothalamus) might have sent signals to fill the spongy tissues found in the pe*is with blood while a man dreams. Of course, this is not true among the girls.)

Reflection

This is where I realized how important discourses are. These are just simple day-to-day taken for granted inquiries whose answers can already be verified from previous works but need to be communicated in layman's terms. No need to do an experiment yet, but a jumping board to getting there. One more thing, teachers can play like a devil's advocate, challenging students' conception of things. Science education literature call this 'cognitive dissonance through anomalous data'.

This is above classroom vignettes are evidences that students are learning and I am convinced because their facial expressions tell me so. But there is no way their facial expressions could be factored into their report cards. Wait now, because Education 4.0 might just change that with all the sensors and artifical intelligences available around.

Consider this, I for one could attest that I have aced an examination (100%) but I haven’t learned at all. The mystery of learning!

Comments

  1. Sniper26August 27, 2019 at 8:23 PM

    One of the perks of a class when your students is curious as ever.
    But when you ask them to investigate the answer, you'll eventually be dismayed that they just rely to your answer considering they spent most of their time in the net.
    The power of curiosity.
    #sanaall

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sir EdAugust 27, 2019 at 9:14 PM

    I agree. There are really batches of students who are very engaged and inquisitive. But, there are also those who are nonchalant and disconnected. So is having a class like that a forced option or can there be a way to make a just a little nudge to have their activation energy released organically?

    You're right, there are really times when after you danced, tumbled, clowned, etc., all you got are blank stares, silently shouting, "Sir, sirit na sir. Sirit na." As if learning, like love, is a guessing game😁.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownAugust 31, 2019 at 8:42 AM

    I have also experienced this scenario but of different topic. Naging gymnast na sa klase para lang irelay at makuha nila ung clue na ibinibigay at maswerte na kapag nahulaan nila. Pag hindi, paresearch nga ang kahihinatnan.
    Nonetheless, nakakatuwa naman kapag may mga tanong ang bata na wala sa context ng librong hawak pero related. Nagiging masigla ang klase.
    #perksofteachingscience

    ReplyDelete

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