Are you always looking for a fun way to help students learn and understand anatomy and physiology?

During a recent Master Educator Event, Cindy Cazin, an educator at AW Beattie Career Center in Pennsylvania, shared an activity she had used to help students learn the muscles of the face.  I thought it was a fantastic idea and wanted to share with you all.

To get started, assign each student a muscle of the face.  Their job is to learn the definition of the muscle and understand the muscle’s specific function.  Working in pairs, the students will then take a picture of their partner making a face using the muscle they were given.

For example, if a student receives the Frontalis muscle, they would take a picture with their eyebrows raised.  If they receive the Orbicularis Oculi muscle, they would take a picture with their eyes closed.  This activity doesn’t have to be limited to facial muscles only.  You could also do muscles of the hand, arm, leg, foot, basically anything that you can see in action.

After the students take their photo, have the students print them out and hang the pictures around the room.  All students can walk around, view the pictures, and identify the muscle being used.  Or, you could get all of the photos and drop them into a PowerPoint presentation and show the photos to the class, asking students to identify the muscle being used in each photo.

I love this activity for so many reasons.  First, it gets the student up and moving and engaged in their education.   Second, it is a positive way to have students use their cell phones and cameras.  Third, it is fun! Imagine all of the laughs students will have at the faces being made.  Retention of the material is going to be greatly increased because we have taken the definition of a muscle and turned it into something for the student to see in person.  The muscle is no longer something we never think about and is now something that has a real and functioning purpose.   This is another win, win, win activity!