MANKATO – When students walked into new biomedical classrooms at Mankato's East and West high schools last fall, they found a body. They would spend the school year investigating what disease killed the woman.
The victim, dubbed Anna Garcia, was actually a mannequin borrowed from the schools' nursing assistant labs. Her disease and symptoms were made up by teachers.
Only a few students successfully identified her cause of death. But nearly 90 percent of the students earned college credits for their efforts.
Grants from community supporters allowed Mankato Area Public Schools to launch a new Project Lead the Way biomedical sciences program this year. More than 160 students enrolled in the first yearlong class introducing them to human physiology, careers in medicine and some of the technology used in those careers.
Class highlights included dissecting sheep hearts and comparing DNA samples.
Students recently used blood donated by veterinarians to make Wright stains, a technique to prepare blood samples for examination under a microscope. They then examined their stains and identified different types of blood cells.
During a field trip to the Mankato hospital, Mankato East High School teacher Sarah Summers said a lab technician couldn't believe they were high school students because they were so knowledgeable about lab techniques and equipment.
Mankato East junior Ellie Guillemette said she enjoyed learning about DNA and the components of blood. She said she was most surprised to learn about the far-reaching effects diabetes can have on human bodies.
