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RWT Lesson Plan

Bill Querry

University of New England

EDU 740: Spring Term B

April 18, 2013

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Lesson Plan Title:

Interdisciplinary Preview of Bioethical Issues in Human Anatomy & Physiology

Brief Description/Abstract:

This interdisciplinary lesson examines the bioethics of human cadavers in medicine and

research. Students utilize previewing and comprehension to complete a K-W-L-Q-B

(know; want to know; learned; question; believe) organizer.

Overview:

As science advances, questions about ethical limits of scientific and medical practices

abound. Through select fiction, non-fiction, film, and art, students will investigate the use

of human cadavers in science: Frankenstein (Shelley); Stiff (Roach); Frankenweenie

(1984); and The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (Rembrandt). Students will

consider ethical issues: Is the treatment of cadavers respectful? Is Frankenstein more

relevant today than when written in 1818? The lesson follows completion of the first

semester of A&P and precedes fetal pig dissection and the remainder of second semester.

Students will have completed: Cells, Tissues and the Integumentary, Skeletal, and

Muscular systems.

Grade Band:

Grades 11 and 12

Lesson Plan Type:

Standard lesson

Estimated Lesson Time:

Three 50 minute classroom sessions; two 50 minute advisory sessions; one lunch period.

(If a lunch period is not an option – add a fourth session).

Featured Resources:

Fiction: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

http://www.boutell.com/frankenstein/index.html)

Non-Fiction: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (2003)

Art: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt (1632)

http://www.students.sbc.edu/vermilya08/Rembrandt/Anatomy.htm

Printouts:

K-W-L-Q-B Chart

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Stiff Vocabulary Chapter One

Stiff Vocabulary Chapter Two

Frankenstein Chapters One Through Five and Letters One Through Four Packet

Frankenstein Chapter Four Questions

Materials & Technology:

Body snatching: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_snatching

Frankenstein: Book background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

Frankenstein: Chapter summary and audio link:

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/frankenstein/summary-

analysis/chapter-4.html

Frankenstein: http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/

Frankenstein: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(1931_film)

Frankenweenie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenweenie_(1984_film)

Graphic Organizer Template: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-

resources/printouts/chart-a-30226.html

History of Anatomy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_anatomy

Holes’s Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology

Hole’s Laboratory Manual: Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology

Computer: school assigned laptop; library computer; home computer

Projector

Internet Access (school, home, library)

Poster Board (from teacher)

Three ring course binder with a new section for this lesson

Colored Markers (from teacher)

Post It Notes (from teacher)

From Theory to Practice:

Graphic organizers such as the K-W-L or modified versions helps students clarify

their ideas about difficult concepts and take responsibility for their own learning (Ogle,

1986). K-W-L activates and organizes students' prior knowledge, helps in the

development of questions of personal interest, and sums up and reflects on what was

learned, and if and how questions were answered. Ideas, questions, and results are

recorded on a chart for the whole class or for individual students. K-W-L can also be

used to facilitate science learning by pulling together what students already know (or

think they know), helping to generate questions for investigation, and summing up

findings and further questions (Carr and Ogle, 1887). Both teachers and students need

models and opportunities to construct meaning. K-W-L facilitates students’ construction

of their own meanings. Research indicates the importance of the active, constructive

nature of learning; good learners link their prior knowledge to new information,

reorganize it, and create their own meanings (Taboada & Guthrie, 2006). The K-W-L

strategy, is helps readers provide a framework for learning that can be used across

content areas to help students become active constructors of meaning.

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References

Carr, E., & Ogle, D. (1987). KWL Plus: A strategy comprehension and summarization.

Journal of Reading, 30, 626-631.

Ogle, D. (1986). KWL: A teaching model that develops active reading of expository text.

The Reading Teacher, 40, 564-570.

Ogle, D. M. (1992). KWL in action: Secondary teachers find applications that work.

In E.K. Dishner, T.W. Bean, J.E. Readence, & D.W. Moore (Eds.). Reading in the

Content Areas: Improving Classroom Instruction (3rd ed., pp. 270-281),

Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

Taboaga, A., & Guthrie J.T. (2006). Contributions of student questioning and prior

knowledge to construction of knowledge from reading information text. Journal of

Literacy Research, 38, 1-35.

Standards:

NCTE:

1. Students read a wide range of print and non print texts to build an understanding

of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire

new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and

for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and

contemporary works.

2. Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to

build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of

human experience.

3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and

appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers

and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification

strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound–letter correspondence,

sentence structure, context, graphics).

8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries,

databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create

and communicate knowledge.

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11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members

of a variety of literacy communities.

12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own

purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Websites:

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp

http://www.students.sbc.edu/vermilya08/Rembrandt/Anatomy.htm

Rembrandt painted this group portrait of seven surgeons and the physician Nicolaes Tulp

in 1632. The painting is one of a series of group portraits that were made for the board

room of the Guild of Surgeons, the earliest of which dates from 1603. An anatomy piece

of this kind has a central motif, an anatomy lesson, and a protagonist, the praelector or

reader. This painting was occasioned by the anatomy lesson that Tulp gave in January

1632. Twice a week a leading physician gave the Amsterdam surgeons a theory lesson.

One element of this extra training was attendance at practical demonstrations in the

anatomy theatre in order to gain a greater understanding of human anatomy. There was

one public autopsy each year, conducted in the winter because the stench of the body

would have been unbearable at any other time. The dissection was carried out under the

supervision of the praelector. He did not do this every year, but Tulp, who had become

reader of the Guild of Surgeons three years earlier, performed his first autopsy in 1631

and his second in 1632. It was of this occasion that Rembrandt made his famous painting.

Dissection

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/techniques/dissection.aspx

The dissection of human cadavers for medical purposes has a long history. Herophilos

and Erasistratos, Greek physicians working in Alexandria in the 200s BCE, seem to have

been the first to systematically dissect human bodies. Dissecting humans was forbidden

in the Roman Empire, so people such as Galen used the bodies of apes. In both the

Islamic and medieval Christian worlds, dissection was culturally taboo. Still, the work of

individuals such as Ibn al-Nafis in the 1200’s indicates that some form of human

dissection was being carried out.

The Heart and the Circulatory System

http://biology.about.com/library/organs/blcircsystem2.htm

William Harvey's 1628 classic work is the foundation for all modern research on the

heart and cardiovascular medicine. It has been said that Harvey's proof "of the continuous

circulation of the blood within a contained system was the seventeenth century's most

significant achievement in physiology and medicine." Further, his work is considered to

be one of the most important contributions in the history of medicine. Without the

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understanding of the circulatory system made possible by Harvey's pioneering work, the

medical miracles that we think are commonplace would be impossible.

History of Anatomy

http://www.peakri.com/history-of-anatomy/

Human cadaver dissection is definitely not a popular subject of conversation around the

water cooler. But the knowledge of anatomy and the advancement in medicine have been

tremendously affected by this valuable avenue of exploration. According to Joel Howell,

a Professor of History and Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan, “Without the

anatomical understanding of the human body that is afforded by dissection, much of

modern medicine would simply not exist.”

Luigi Galvani (1737-1798)

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_Galvani.htm

During the 1790s, Italian physician Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand

to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses when he made frog muscles twitch by jolting

them with a spark from an electrostatic machine. In a series of experiments started around

1780, Galvani, working at the University of Bologna, found that the electric current

delivered by a Leyden jar or a rotating static electricity generator would cause the

contraction of the muscles in the leg of a frog and many other animals, either by applying

the charge to the muscle or to the nerve. In the strange case of Galvani's frog, this

twitching happened even when its legs were not in a direct circuit with the machine.

Medicine in Ancient Egypt

http://www.indiana.edu/~ancmed/egypt.HTM

The ancient Egyptians are responsible for the oldest written record using the word brain

and have provided the first written accounts of the anatomy of the brain, the meninges

(coverings of the brain) and cerebrospinal fluid. The word "brain" appears on an ancient

paper-like document (a "papyrus") called the Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus. This

document was written around the year 1700 BC, but is based on texts that go back to

about 3000 BC. This document is considered to be the first medical document in the

history of mankind. It is possible that the papyrus was written by the great Egyptian

physician named Imhotep.

Medical Students Learn From Cadavers

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-11-30-medical-students-

anatomy_N.htm

Learning anatomy with cadavers is a centuries-old rite of passage that is getting a face-lift

as medical schools struggle to mix this core knowledge with an explosion of new

information from the genetics revolution. Italian Mondino de Luzzi in the early 14th

century reported on a series of dissections to illuminate body function. For years after

that, dissections were done outside in public view, directed by a professor-type anatomist

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who seldom did the actual work. Sixteenth-century anatomist Andreas Vesalius is

credited with breaking that trend, performing dissection himself as he taught and writing

the influential drawing-filled text, "On the Workings of the Human Body." Today, the

nation's 150 medical schools average about 149 hours of training in first-year gross

anatomy, about two-thirds of which is spent with cadaver dissection, according to a new

survey by the American Association of Anatomists.

Preparation:

Science:

1. This lesson takes place following a student vacation and precedes the fetal pig

dissection lab. Teachers must be familiar with all aspects of the dissection lab prior to

beginning this lesson.

2. Through careful planning and organization of the dissection lab teachers help

students improve observation and fine motor skills as well as the interrelationship

between organs and tissue.

3. Students learn respect for life and engage in a conversation about ethics in

science so teachers should establish specific and clear learning goals.

National Science Teachers Association recommends that science teachers:

4. Be prepared to present an alternative to dissection to students whose views or

beliefs make the activity uncomfortable for them. On line dissections are available.

5. Conduct lab and dissection activities with consideration and appreciation for the

organism.

6. Plan lab and dissection activities that are appropriate to maturity level of the

students.

7. Use prepared specimens purchased from a reputable and reliable scientific supply

company. An acceptable alternative source for fresh specimens (i.e., squid, chicken

wings) would be an FDA-inspected facility such as a butcher shop, fish market, or

supermarket. The use of salvaged specimens does not reflect safe practice.

8. Conduct lab and dissection activities in a clean and organized work space with

care and laboratory precision.

9. Conduct dissections in an appropriate physical environment with the proper

ventilation, lighting, furniture, and equipment, including hot water and soap for cleanup.

10. Use personal safety protective equipment, such as gloves, chemical splash

goggles, and aprons, all of which should be available and used by students, teachers, and

visitors to the classroom.

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11. Address such issues as allergies and squeamishness about dealing with animal

specimens.

12. Ensure that the specimens are handled and disposed of properly.

13. Ensure that sharp instruments, such as scissors, scalpels, and other tools, are used

safely and appropriately.

14. Base lab and dissection activities on carefully planned curriculum objectives.

Reading:

1. Prior to vacation, provide students with the following: link to online edition of

Frankenstein; link to summary and audio version of the book; photocopies of the four

letters and chapters one through five. Explain that students are only required to read the

four letters and chapters one through five although they are encouraged to read the entire

book. Students with time or internet access issues will be accommodated.

a. Text/chapter link: http://www.boutell.com/frankenstein/index.html

b. Summary and audio link: http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/

frankenstein/summary-analysis/chapter-4.html

c. Background information link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein

2. Explain that the online book is divided into three sections: Shelley's Preface, four

letters from Walton to his sister back in England, and the twenty-four chapters that make

up Dr. Frankenstein's story. This version follows the text faithfully and includes one

chapter per page, except for Chapter 24, which is much longer than the others and whose

format lends to its division into three sections.

3. Directional buttons are at the bottom of each page and allow the reader to go from

the current letter or chapter to the previous page, to this index page, or to the next page.

The pages are navigable with or without graphics display.

4. Explain to students that they should be active readers and write in the margins,

underline, or highlight key or confusing words and phrases of text as they read. In doing

this, students will be better able to locate those sections of text they have identified as

meaningful or confusing. Announce that you will work one on one with any student.

5. Share with students that Frankenstein begins with a series of seemingly unrelated

letters. They actually serve an important function in establishing the narrative

perspective. Also there are many contrasts in Frankenstein: life/death; good/evil;

allowed/ forbidden, natural/unnatural, mysterious/known, light/dark. Be on the lookout.

6. Hand out Frankenstein Chapter Four Questions and Chapter One through Five

Check In. Explain that students may use the summary link to help answer questions. This

material is meant to assist with comprehension. It will not be graded but will count as

participation. Students with time constraints or other issues will be accommodated.

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7. Prepare and copy the K-W-L-Q-B handout.

8. Procure poster board.

9. Procure Post It sticky notes.

10. Review Stiff and Frankenstein. Procure as many copies of Stiff as possible.

11. Procure a poster print of The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt.

Place it in the front of the classroom.

12. Make copies of the following quotations and display them in the classroom:

“Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also love of humanity.” Hippocrates

“Doctors are men who prescribe medicines of which they know little, to cure diseases of

which they know less, in human beings of whom they know nothing.” Voltaire

Instructional Plan:

Student Objectives:

National Science Education Standards (NSES): Student interaction with organisms is one

of the most effective methods of achieving many of the goals outlined in the NSTA

supports animal dissection activities that help students meet the following objectives:

Develop skills of observation and comparison.

Discover the shared and unique structures and processes of specific organisms.

Develop a greater appreciation for the complexity of life.

Common Core Standards Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects objectives: cite,

summarize, and infer.

Students will cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and

technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any

gaps or inconsistencies in the account.

Determine the central ideas of conclusions of a text; summarize complex

concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in

simpler but still accurate terms.

Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms and other domain-specific words

and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context.

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Bioethics helps students develop skills to engage ethical questions.

Students will recognize moral issues.

Students will analyze key moral concepts and principles.

Students will deal effectively with moral ambiguity and disagreement.

Stimulates the moral imagination of students.

Stimulates students’ sense of responsibility.

Session Introduction and Activities:

Lesson One: Introduction to Dissection

1. Explain to students that the dissection lab will begin in two weeks and they will

take a break from regular science instruction to learn about the history of dissection and

engage in a discussion on bioethics.

2. Draw students’ attention to The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp. Give

students 3 minutes to study the painting and 5 minutes to brainstorm observations.

Encourage students to approach the print. Record observations on the whiteboard.

3. Ask students what they know about dissection. Add this list to the white board.

4. Review the following link on the projector screen or through handout

http://www.peakri.com/history-of-anatomy/. Conduct a brief discussion regarding the

history of anatomy and cadaver dissection.

5. Define bioethics: The study moral issues brought about by advances in biology

and medicine. Bioethicists are concerned with ethical questions that arise in biology,

anatomy & physiology, technology, medicine, politics, law, philosophy, and religion.

6. Hand out either a copy of Stiff or photocopies of the chapters to each student.

There should be no expense for the student. Procure as many copies Stiff as possible.

7. Explain the active reading that will be taking place in the next two lessons. Hand

out and explain K-W-L-Q-B organizer. Help direct students’ thinking as they begin to

read. Ask students to look through the table of contents. Ask them to think about what

they might already know about dissection, medical research, bioethics, or other book

topics, and add that to the “What I Know” column. Encourage students’ to brainstorm

about the topics in the book, pose questions, and write in the “What I Want to Know” and

“What I Question” columns. As students’ read, instruct them to update information in the

columns, especially “What I Question” and to begin to complete the “What I Learned”

column. Students should begin to contemplate the “What I Believe” column.

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8. Hand out Post It notes and explain their use. As students read they should attach

a Post It note to pages where they want to highlight something interesting or confusing.

They should make short notes on the Post It notes to summarize points, raise questions,

etc. Students are encouraged to write comments and questions about what they read while

you are reading and to make any connections to their everyday life.

9. Explain that Stiff has 12 chapters; students are required to Post It Chapters One

and Two. Students should use between 4-10 Post Its per chapter.

10. Each Post It will contain three items: page and paragraph number; either a K-W-

L-Q-B depending upon where it would belong on the organizer; and a brief description or

comment regarding of the word, line, or passage. For example: I agree with this; this is

offensive; this is confusing, etc.

K represents what a student knows;

W represents what a student wants to know;

L indicates what a student has learned;

Q indicates a question or confusing section or passage;

B represents a phrase or passage that represents what a student believes.

11. Stiff is non-fiction. Students are welcome to read the remainder of the book at

their leisure. Students should check the table of contents for interesting chapter titles.

12. Hand out Chapter One and Chapter Two vocabulary. Explain that these are

supplementary assignments – not homework. Students can complete them at their leisure.

Students may use study hall/advisory periods to receive extra assistance. Completion

counts as participation. Students may turn in worksheets at any time during the week.

Students needing any help or additional time will be accommodated.

Lesson Two: Stiff Chapters One and Two

1. Hand out poster board. Ask students to write “Bioethics and Dissection

Organizer” across the top and to make five columns from left to right as follows: K-W-L-

Q-B. Teacher will assist students as needed. Those needing help will be accommodated.

2. Begin class discussion using the following questions as a guide:

Chapter 1: A Head Is a Terrible thing to Waste

a. Why is it important that the doctors (and students) learn to objectify the bodies?

b. What is the malar fat pad and why might plastic surgeons focus on this area?

c. How has surgery changed since the 17th century?

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Chapter 2: Crimes of Anatomy

a. How do medical schools encourage respect for the dead? (Or do they?)

b. How were cadavers acquired before the modern day “donation” method?

c. What was Robert Knox’s fatal public relations blunder?

d. What options did early surgeons have to learn anatomy when the government did

not allow human dissection? How does this make you feel?

3. Ask students to review and update their K-W-L-Q-B organizer. Are they using the

Post Its to help them complete their organizer? Ask them to revise any entries based upon

the reading and discussion. Can they add anything to the “What I Know” column? Help

students update information in the columns, especially “What I Question” and to begin to

complete the “What I Learned” column. Students should also begin to contemplate the

“What I Believe” column.

4. Ask students to place the accumulated Post It Notes on their poster board. They

should add the Post It to one of the following columns: K-W-L-Q-B.

5. Students are encouraged to share their organizers. A classroom organizer will also

be created on the white board. Shared or individual student knowledge, questions, beliefs,

etc., will be added. This is an-going collaborative process and students may add to the

organizer at any time. Students must be respectful and considerate of the ideas and beliefs

of their fellow students.

6. Remind students that they are encouraged to read more of Stiff but that the class

will be moving on to Frankenstein. Students may read, revise their organizers or

complete supplemental work in the set aside study hall/student advisory sessions.

Lesson Three: Frankenstein and Bioethics

1. Use the following link for this lesson:

http://www.boutell.com/frankenstein/index.html

2. Bring the lesson back to The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (Rembrandt).

Ask the students to study the painting again with fresh eyes. Have students take 3 minutes

to record any new ideas on Post It’s and add to their organizer using the coding letter P.

3. Explain the following: Frankenstein is the world-famous story of a doctor whose

brilliant mind gets the better of him. One of the first most enduring Gothic novels of the

English literary tradition, its premise allows the reader to hear the story not only from the

perspective of the tragic Dr. Frankenstein, but also from that of his listener, Captain

Walton who has entertained similar fascinations in the natural sciences.

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4. There are many discoveries to be made when students read Frankenstein for the

first time. Discuss the humanizing of the creature. Frankenstein is the name not of a

created “monster” but of the scientist who creates him; the nameless creation is a

sympathetic, lonely nature-lover; and the novel raises relevant questions about a range of

issues including bioethics, the meaning of life and “the deepest mysteries of creation,” as

Mary Shelley herself put it.

5. Have students reference the chapter four questions.

6. Brainstorm some of the mythic contrasts in Frankenstein: life/death, allowed/

forbidden, natural/unnatural, mysterious/known, light/dark.

7. Brainstorm any heroic qualities: curiosity, courage, ingenuity, perseverance,

determination.

8. Ask students what kind of assistant they might be to Dr. Frankenstein. Could they

be a body-snatcher? Is this science or ruthlessness? Why? Why not?

9. Consider Frankenstein versus cloning and multiple organ transplants? Are we

seeing a modern day Frankenstein or a medical miracle? What about stem cells? Are

there similarities between Dr. Frankenstein borrowing body parts from the dead and

cloning borrowing genetic material from donor eggs?

10. As a group, have the students discuss what they learned from the readings and the

painting. Students should update their K-W-L-Q-B organizer to include Frankenstein and

begin to focus on what they believe. Have students moved their Post It’s to different

columns? Are their questions getting answered? How might students find answers to their

questions? Any Post It additions that are a direct result of Frankenstein should include

the coded letter F.

11. Continue to revise the classroom K-W-L-Q-B organizer. Circulate around the

room and engage one on one with students, encouraging all ideas. All students should

feel motivated to contribute.

12. Remind the students that the classroom discussion helps them in making

bioethical decisions by exposing them to information regarding the issues. The classroom

discussion does not resolve bioethical issues or disagreement among students. What is

important is that students learn how to identify ethical issues and to discuss them

productively with others.

13. Explain the last session. Students are invited to lunch and a movie in the

classroom. This will be completed through a lunch session or an additional class session.

Teacher will provide lunch.

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14. Announce the film or save it for a surprise. Either way, discuss the following:

The definitive beginning and end of human life are complex concepts informed by

medical, legal, sociological, and religious considerations.

Studies by sociologists have found that no experience has a more profound impact

on medical school students than the first encounter with death, which typically

occurs during first-year anatomy. Why hands on dissection and not virtual?

One common method of dealing with the emotional upset of dissection can be the

use of humor. However, humor must NEVER be confused with disrespect.

Session Four: Frankenweenie and Lunch in the Classroom or a Fourth Session

1. The original Frankenweenie (1984) is a 30-minute parody or imitation of Mary

Shelley’s most infamous creation. The film tells the story of schoolboy Victor

Frankenstein who is left heartbroken when his beloved dog Sparky dies. After learning

about the potentially regenerative properties of electricity in a school science class,

Victor digs up Sparky and succeeds in bringing him back to life.

2. Prior to the film explain to the students the following:

Dissection is a very serious subject.

Students may feel squeamish and be impacted by the upcoming lab. This is quite

normal. Talking about their feelings is a good thing.

Ethical concerns are natural. All questions are welcome and will be treated with

respect and, when necessary, confidentiality.

Students must respect the dissection process at all times.

Dissection must never foster disrespect for life.

Dissection should increase student knowledge and interest in science.

3. Encourage students to engage their family in this discussion. Remind all students

that their teacher is available to meet with parents and answer all questions.

Extensions:

Students who need additional time will be accommodated. Two or three advisory

periods or study halls should be set aside during this lesson to enable struggling

readers to complete their reading. Teachers will be available to clarify and answer

questions. English teachers will know that A&P students are reading both non-

fiction and fiction texts.

Students who would like additional work will be accommodated. For example:

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While many people use e-mail, letter-writing remains an important skill. E-mail is

a good choice for short messages but a letter may be a better choice if you want to

explain something at length. A letter is also a good way to share and reflect on

your experiences with people you know well. Following Walton’s example in

Frankenstein, write a letter to a friend or relative. In your letter, describe a recent

experience in detail and reflect on the meaning of the experience.

What do you think it would be like to be a scientist involved in cutting-edge

research on cloning? Stem cell research?

Draw a cartoon for the editorial page of a newspaper to illustrate ideas and views

on cloning. As you brainstorm ideas, consider the visual possibilities suggested by

the title of the book review. Add labels, dialogue, or a caption, as needed, to

clarify the message of the cartoon.

Frankenstein is more relevant today in the context of contemporary ethical and

social issues such as human cloning and stem cell research than when originally

written in 1818. Many scientific developments have provoked references to

Frankenstein, a story that, for nearly two centuries, has gripped our imaginations

and haunted our nightmares. As you read consider: How can society balance the

benefits of medical discoveries against the ethical questions posed?

Student Assessments/Reflections:

Following the conclusion of the lesson students will reflect upon their personal beliefs

regarding dissection. Students will be asked: Consider a scenario where a member of

your family has decided to donate their body to science. Many of your relatives are

opposed to this decision. How would you support your family member's decision? Could

you support the decision? Students may write their reply as an essay or present an oral

report. Further differentiation will be considered as needed or requested.

Students may elect to substitute the letter writing activity if they choose.

Students may choose to create a painting depicting their artistic version of the

creature or write an artistic analysis of the Rembrandt painting.

Related Resources:

Bell M.D.D. (2003), “Non-heart beating organ donation: old procurement strategy - new

ethical problems,” Journal of medical ethics 29(3):176.

Cross, Tina R. 2004. Scalpel or mouse: A statistical comparison of real and virtual frog

dissections. The American Biology Teacher, 66(6): 408-411.

Haberal M., Moray G., Bilgin N. (1999), “The benefits of cadaver-organ

transplantation,” Transplantation proceedings 31(8):3377-8.

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Kinzie, M. B., R. Strauss, and J. Foss. 1993. The effects of an interactive dissection

simulation on the performance and achievement of high school students. Journal

of Research in Science Teaching 30(8): 989-1000.

Kwan, T., and J. Texley. National Science Teachers Association. 2002. Exploring safely;

A guide for elementary teachers. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Kwan, T., and J. Texley. National Science Teachers Association. 2003. Inquiring safely;

A guide for middle school teachers. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources, Commission on Life Sciences, National

Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of

Engineering. 1989. Principles and Guidelines for the Use of Animals in

Precollege Education. dels.nas.edu/ilar/prin_guide.asp.

Madrazo, G. 2002. The debate over dissection: Dissecting a classroom dilemma. The

Science Educator (NSELA). EJ64162.

National Research Council. (1996). National science education standards. Washington,

DC: National Academy Press.

National Science Teachers Association. 2000. Safety and School Science Instruction, an

NSTA Position Statement. www.nsta.org/about/positions/safety.aspx.

Nuffield Council on Bioethics (2010). Give and take? Human bodies in medicine and

research. http://www.nuffieldbioethics.org/sites/default/files/Human%20bodies

%20in%20medicine%20and%20research% 20consultation% 20paper.pdf

Paris J.J. (2002), “Harvesting organs from cadavers: an ethical challenge,”

America 186(14):9-12.

Schotsmans P., Saracibar J.A. (1995), “Harvesting organs from cadavers,” Bulletin of

medical ethics 112: Inset 2-6.

Texley, J., T. Kwan, and J. Summers. National Science Teachers Association. 2004.

Investigating safely; A guide for high school teachers. Arlington, VA: NSTA

Press.

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Image:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/The_Anatomy_Lesson.jpg

Keytags/Tagging:

Dissection, cadaver, bioethics, cloning, stem cell, transplantation, ethics, specimen,

formaldehyde

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Appendix i

Name: ____________________________ Date: _________

Vocabulary for STIFF Chapter 1: A Head is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Directions – As you read, find and highlight these words. For each word, write the

page and paragraph number where it is found. Copy the section of the sentence

containing the word.

1. Retractor – a tool for drawing back a part that is in the way during dissection or

surgery

2. Embalming – treating a dead body with chemicals so as to preserve it

3. Pliable - easily bent; flexible; supple

4. Eviscerate – to remove the organs from a body

5. Subcutaneous – under the skin

6. Lateral – of or pertaining to the side; at, coming from, or directed to a side

7. Medial – in or about the middle; median; intermediate

8. Rhinoplasty – plastic surgery of the nose

9. Endoscopically – visually examining the inside of a body canal/hollow organ with

a long thin tool called an endoscope

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10. Fistula – a narrow passage formed by disease or injury, as one leading from an

abscess (swollen infected area) to a free surface, or from one body cavity to

another

11. Nepotism – favoritism shown on the basis of family relationship, often in business

and politics

12. Perineum – region between the scrotum and anus in males, and between the vulva

and anus in females

13. Appendectomy – surgery removing the appendix, an organ branching off of the

large intestine, often because of infection (known as appendicitis)

14. Catheterization – to insert a catheter (narrow tube) into the body for diagnosis,

introducing chemicals, or removing fluids (such as urine from the bladder)

15. Intubation – inserting a tube into the throat to help a patient breathe

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Appendix ii

Name: ____________________________ Date: _________

Vocabulary for STIFF by Mary Roach – Chapter 2: Crimes of Anatomy

Directions – As you read, find and highlight these words. For each word, write the

page and paragraph number where it is found. Copy the section of the sentence

containing the word.

1. Hemisections: two equal parts from being bisected (cut in half)

2. Sinus cavities: hollow passages in the body (example: in skull connecting nasal

cavities)

3. Anhydrous lacrimal gland: dry tear-secreting gland (in this case, like the phrase

“not a dry eye in the house”)

4. Vivisected: dissected while alive

5. Postmortem: after death

6. Misappropriation: put to wrong use, especially referring to dishonest misuse of

money

7. Belie: give evidence that what is shown is false, something that contradicts what

is intended

8. Metastasized: spread; usually refers to disease having spread throughout the body

from the origin

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9. Intaglio: engraving of design, symbol, or text into an object’s surface

10. Abattoir: a slaughterhouse

11. Charnel-house: a place in which human remains are laid to rest, rather than

buried

12. Vertebrae: the bones of the spine, which surround and protect the spinal cord

13. Gastric juice: stomach acid, containing the chemicals hydrochloric acid, pepsin,

rennin, and mucin

14. Jackdaws: black and gray European/Asian birds known for stealing; referring to a

person who steals

15. Egregious: extraordinary or extreme in some bad way

16. Procured: obtained or got by care, effort, or the use of special means

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Appendix iii

Frankenstein: Chapter 4

FROM this memorable day natural philosophy, and particularly chemistry, in the most

comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation. I read with ardour

those works, so full of genius and discrimination, which modern inquirers have written

on these subjects. I attended the lectures, and cultivated the acquaintance, of the men of

science of the university; and I found even in M. Krempe a great deal of sound sense and

real information, combined, it is true, with a repulsive physiognomy and manners, but not

on that account the less valuable. In M. Waldman I found a true friend. His gentleness

was never tinged by dogmatism and his instructions were given with an air of frankness

and good nature that banished every idea of pedantry. In a thousand ways he smoothed

for me the path of knowledge, and made the most abstruse inquiries clear and facile to

my apprehension. My application was at first fluctuating and uncertain; it gained strength

as I proceeded, and soon became so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in

the light of morning whilst I was yet engaged in my laboratory.

As I applied so closely, it may be easily conceived that my progress was rapid. My ardour

was indeed the astonishment of the students, and my proficiency that of the masters.

Professor Krempe often asked me, with a sly smile, how Cornelius Agrippa went on?

whilst M. Waldman expressed the most heartfelt exultation in my progress. Two years

passed in this manner, during which I paid no visit to Geneva, but was engaged, heart and

soul, in the pursuit of some discoveries, which I hoped to make. None but those who have

experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science. In other studies you go as

far as others have gone before you, and there is nothing more to know; but in a scientific

pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder. A mind of moderate capacity,

which closely pursues one study, must infallibly arrive at great proficiency in that study;

and I, who continually sought the attainment of one object of pursuit, and was solely

wrapped up in this, improved so rapidly that, at the end of two years, I made some

discoveries in the improvement of some chemical instruments which procured me great

esteem and admiration at the university. When I had arrived at this point, and had become

as well acquainted with the theory and practice of natural philosophy as depended on the

lessons of any of the professors at Ingolstadt, my residence there being no longer

conducive to my improvement, I thought of returning to my friends and my native town,

when an incident happened that protracted my stay.

One of the phenomena which had peculiarly attracted my attention was the structure of

the human frame, and, indeed, any animal endued with life. Whence, I often asked

myself, did the principle of life proceed? It was a bold question, and one which has ever

been considered as a mystery; yet with how many things are we upon the brink of

becoming acquainted, if cowardice or carelessness did not restrain our inquiries. I

revolved these circumstances in my mind, and determined thenceforth to apply myself

more particularly to those branches of natural philosophy which relate to physiology.

Unless I had been animated by an almost supernatural enthusiasm, my application to this

study would have been irksome, and almost intolerable. To examine the causes of life, we

Running head: RWT Lesson Plan 23

must first have recourse to death. I became acquainted with the science of, anatomy: but

this was not sufficient; I must also observe the natural decay and corruption of the human

body. In my education my father had taken the greatest precautions that my mind should

be impressed with no supernatural horrors. I do not ever remember to have trembled at a

tale of superstition, or to have feared the apparition of a spirit. Darkness had no effect

upon my fancy; and a churchyard was to me merely the receptacle of bodies deprived of

life, which, from being the seat of beauty and strength, had become food for the worm.

Now I was led to examine the cause and progress of this decay, and forced to spend days

and nights in vaults and charnel-houses. My attention was fixed upon every object the

most insupportable to the delicacy of the human feelings. I saw how the fine form of man

was degraded and wasted; I beheld the corruption of death succeed to the blooming cheek

of life; I saw how the worm inherited the wonders of the eye and brain. I paused,

examining and analysing all the minutiae of causation, as exemplified in the change from

life to death, and death to life, until from the midst of this darkness a sudden light broke

in upon me -- a light so brilliant and wondrous, yet so simple, that while I became dizzy

with the immensity of the prospect which it illustrated, I was surprised, that among so

many men of genius who had directed their inquiries towards the same science, that I

alone should be reserved to discover so astonishing a secret.

Remember, I am not recording the vision of a madman. The sun does not more certainly

shine in the heavens, than that which I now affirm is true. Some miracle might have

produced it, yet the stages of the discovery were distinct and probable. After days and

nights of incredible labour and fatigue, I succeeded in discovering the cause of generation

and life; nay, more, I became myself capable of bestowing animation upon lifeless

matter.

The astonishment which I had at first experienced on this discovery soon gave place to

delight and rapture. After so much time spent in painful labour, to arrive at once at the

summit of my desires was the most gratifying consummation of my toils. But this

discovery was so great and overwhelming that all the steps by which I had been

progressively led to it were obliterated, and I beheld only the result. What had been the

study and desire of the wisest men since the creation of the world was now within my

grasp. Not that, like a magic scene, it all opened upon me at once: the information I had

obtained was of a nature rather to direct my endeavours so soon as I should point them

towards the object of my search, than to exhibit that object already accomplished. I was

like the Arabian who had been buried with the dead, and found a passage to life, aided

only by one glimmering, and seemingly ineffectual, light.

I see by your eagerness, and the wonder and hope which your eyes express, my friend,

that you expect to be informed of the secret with which I am acquainted; that cannot be:

listen patiently until the end of my story, and you will easily perceive why I am reserved

upon that subject. I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your

destruction and infallible misery. Learn from me, if not by my precepts, at least by my

example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that

man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become

greater than his nature will allow.

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When I found so astonishing a power placed within my hands, I hesitated a long time

concerning the manner in which I should employ it. Although I possessed the capacity of

bestowing animation, yet to prepare a frame for the reception of it, with all its intricacies

of fibres, muscles, and veins, still remained a work of inconceivable difficulty and labour.

I doubted at first whether I should attempt the creation of a being like myself, or one of

simpler organisation; but my imagination was too much exalted by my first success to

permit me to doubt of my ability to give life to an animal as complex and wonderful as

man. The materials at present within my command hardly appeared adequate to so

arduous an undertaking; but I doubted not that I should ultimately succeed. I prepared

myself for a multitude of reverses; my operations might be incessantly baffled, and at last

my work be imperfect: yet, when I considered the improvement which every day takes

place in science and mechanics, I was encouraged to hope my present attempts would at

least lay the foundations of future success. Nor could I consider the magnitude and

complexity of my plan as any argument of its impracticability. It was with these feelings

that I began the creation of a human being. As the minuteness of the parts formed a great

hindrance to my speed, I resolved, contrary to my first intention, to make the being of a

gigantic stature; that is to say, about eight feet in height, and proportionably large. After

having formed this determination, and having spent some months in successfully

collecting and arranging my materials, I began.

No one can conceive the variety of feelings which bore me onwards, like a hurricane, in

the first enthusiasm of success. Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I

should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species

would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe

their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I

should deserve theirs. Pursuing these reflections, I thought, that if I could bestow

animation upon lifeless matter, I might in process of time (although I now found it

impossible) renew life where death had apparently devoted the body to corruption.

These thoughts supported my spirits, while I pursued my undertaking with unremitting

ardour. My cheek had grown pale with study, and my person had become emaciated with

confinement. Sometimes, on the very brink of certainty, I failed; yet still I clung to the

hope which the next day or the next hour might realise. One secret which I alone

possessed was the hope to which I had dedicated myself; and the moon gazed on my

midnight labours, while, with unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued nature to her

hiding-places. Who shall conceive the horrors of my secret toil, as I dabbled among the

unhallowed damps of the grave, or tortured the living animal, to animate the lifeless clay?

My limbs now tremble and my eyes swim with the remembrance; but then a resistless,

and almost frantic, impulse urged me forward; I seemed to have lost all soul or sensation

but for this one pursuit. It was indeed but a passing trance that only made me feel with

renewed acuteness so soon as, the unnatural stimulus ceasing to operate, I had returned to

my old habits. I collected bones from charnel-houses; and disturbed, with profane fingers,

the tremendous secrets of the human frame. In a solitary chamber, or rather cell, at the

top of the house, and separated from all the other apartments by a gallery and staircase, I

kept my workshop of filthy creation: my eye-balls were starting from their sockets in

attending to the details of my employment. The dissecting room and the slaughter-house

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furnished many of my materials; and often did my human nature turn with loathing from

my occupation, whilst, still urged on by an eagerness which perpetually increased, I

brought my work near to a conclusion.

The summer months passed while I was thus engaged, heart and soul, in one pursuit. It

was a most beautiful season; never did the fields bestow a more plentiful harvest, or the

vines yield a more luxuriant vintage: but my eyes were insensible to the charms of nature.

And the same feelings which made me neglect the scenes around me caused me also to

forget those friends who were so many miles absent, and whom I had not seen for so long

a time. I knew my silence disquieted them; and I well remembered the words of my

father: "I know that while you are pleased with yourself, you will think of us with

affection, and we shall hear regularly from you. You must pardon me if I regard any

interruption in your correspondence as a proof that your other duties are equally

neglected."

I knew well, therefore, what would be my father's feelings; but I could not tear my

thoughts from my employment, loathsome in itself, but which had taken an irresistible

hold of my imagination. I wished, as it were, to procrastinate all that related to my

feelings of affection until the great object, which swallowed up every habit of my nature,

should be completed.

I then thought that my father would be unjust if he ascribed my neglect to vice, or

faultiness on my part; but I am now convinced that he was justified in conceiving that I

should not be altogether free from blame. A human being in perfection ought always to

preserve a calm and peaceful mind, and never to allow passion or a transitory desire to

disturb his tranquillity. I do not think that the pursuit of knowledge is an exception to this

rule. If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections,

and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix,

then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind. If this

rule were always observed; if no man allowed any pursuit whatsoever to interfere with

the tranquillity of his domestic affections, Greece had not been enslaved, Caesar would

have spared his country; America would have been discovered more gradually; and the

empires of Mexico and Peru had not been destroyed.

But I forget that I am moralising in the most interesting part of my tale; and your looks

remind me to proceed.

My father made no reproach in his letters, and only took notice of my silence by

inquiring into my occupations more particularly than before. Winter, spring, and summer

passed away during my labours; but I did not watch the blossom or the expanding leaves

-- sights which before always yielded me supreme delight -- so deeply was I engrossed in

my occupation. The leaves of that year had withered before my work drew near to a

close; and now every day showed me more plainly how well I had succeeded. But my

enthusiasm was checked by my anxiety, and I appeared rather like one doomed by

slavery to toil in the mines, or any other unwholesome trade, than an artist occupied by

his favourite employment. Every night I was oppressed by a slow fever, and I became

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nervous to a most painful degree; the fall of a leaf startled me, and I shunned my fellow-

creatures as if I had been guilty of a crime. Sometimes I grew alarmed at the wreck I

perceived that I had become -- the energy of my purpose alone sustained me: my labours

would soon end, and I believed that exercise and amusement would then drive away

incipient disease; and I promised myself both of these when my creation should be

complete.

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Appendix iv

Frankenstein Chapter 4 Study Guide

1. Which branch of natural philosophy does Victor mostly study?

2. What does Victor say in the first paragraph of his early attempts at experiments?

What does he add at the beginning of the next paragraph though?

3. According to Victor, why are experiments in science more useful and exciting

than other kinds of experiments?

4. What wins Victor “great esteem and admiration at the university”?

5. What does Victor briefly consider doing? Why?

SPECIAL NOTE TO AIDE IN READING: Physiology is the biological science of

life processes, activities, and functions. It is the study of what organisms need and

need to do in order to survive.

6. In order to study physiology, what two things did he have to learn about as well?

7. What routine is Frankenstein in the middle of when he is struck with an idea?

What is the idea?

8. What does Victor guess his listener, Captain Walton, wants to know? Why does

Victor refuse to tell him?

9. Before testing his idea, what must Frankenstein do first? What does he decide

about the size of it?

10. What is Victor not doing during his preparations? Why not? What is he doing

instead?

11. What happens to Victor as he works? Why? What kind of relationship is

developing?

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12. What rule does Victor say should be imposed about knowledge and studies? In

other words, when should we not be allowed to study? What do you think?

13. What is happening at the end of the chapter?

14. What do you think will happen to Victor if his idea is successful?

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Appendix v

Frankenstein: Chapters One Through Five Check In

1. Who tells this part of the story?

Victor Frankenstein tells his story to Robert Walton.

2. How does Elizabeth come to live with the Frankensteins?

Caroline Frankenstein sees her with a peasant family, and offers to raise her in

better circumstances.

3. Who is Frankenstein’s closest friend?

It is Henry Clerval.

4. What is one of the themes of the writers who influenced Frankenstein?

The authors he likes write about raising ghosts or devils. He tries to mimic them.

5. What natural phenomena influence Frankenstein?

He watches a tree being hit by lightning during a storm. He becomes interested in

the theories of electricity and galvanism.

6. What two major events happen to Frankenstein when he is seventeen?

His mother dies and he goes to the university at Ingolstadt to study.

7. What goal does Frankenstein decide to pursue?

He wants to try to renew life in a corpse, to “bestow animation upon lifeless

matter.”

8. How does Frankenstein feel when his experiment succeeds, and the creature

comes to life?

He is horrified and disgusted.

9. What happens to Frankenstein the day after he completes his creation?

He becomes ill with a fever and delirium for several months.

10. Who takes care of Frankenstein during his illness?

Henry Clerval does.

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Appendix v

Name:__________________ Date:___________________

KWLQB Chart

K W L Q B What do I

know?

What do I

want to know?

What did I

learn?

What questions

do I have?

What do I

believe?

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