Grades 1-3: Dr. DeBakey and Heart Dissection

Grades first through third have been learning about the fascinating life of Dr. Michael DeBakey, local pioneer heart surgeon. Dr. DeBakey's early ideas of doing open heart surgery were looked at skeptically by some of his colleagues in the field, but he felt it was doable and necessary.  We talked about a few of his early patients known as "blue" babies, who were born with a defect to the blood vessel connecting the heart to the lungs. With his heart-lung machine invention he was able to save so many lives and his surgeries  became world-renown. Dr. DeBakey continued to work long into his life; he was close to 100 when he died!  Our class learned some valuable lessons:  Be confident in your own ideas for innovation and just because it's never been done, doesn't mean that it can't be done!

Finally we were excited to learn about the human heart by dissecting a real pig heart. We were able to see how the parts of the heart, like the right and left atria and ventricles and various blood vessels, work together to circulate blood through our bodies. It's an amazing organ!

First grade was also part of the heart dissection and as I was working with them closely, I'm sorry I did not get any pictures!  They were amazing scientists-I do have pictures of their heart models and blood flow path below!

                                                                        3rd

2nd

1st

Max

Vanni

Ryan

Jack