Academy Students Use Pasta to Study Skeletal Systems

The knee bone is connected to the thigh bone, and so on, and so on, as LI Academy students constructed animal and human body systems using dried pasta. During a collaborative project that brought together Jenn Capra’s Physical Therapy Aide class and Laura Donohue’s Animal Science class at Bixhorn Tech, students worked side-by-side to recreate skeletons.

The classes sat together at tables to promote interaction and discussion as they replicated their chosen anatomies. This hands-on assignment provided students with a deeper understanding of skeletal systems that went beyond studying illustrations. Said Capra, “Using pasta required students to physically touch and manipulate the pieces to figure out what would fit where and how to correctly label each ‘bone.’  They had to think about why that bone belongs there, where the next one should be, and how they connect.”

Working collectively also made students from different programs realize that many commonalities exist within their coursework. “Our students were conversing on common ground,” explained Donohue. They quickly understood that they were studying different things and the same things.”

The Eastern Long Island Academy of Applied Technology, referred to as the Academy, is the Career and Technical Education Program of Eastern Suffolk BOCES and has locations in Bellport, Oakdale, and Riverhead. Bixhorn Tech is located on the Bellport campus.