We've been studying the human body in Science, so today I took my 5th graders to the Body Worlds exhibit at the California Science Center in LA. It's really incredible. At the exhibit there are actual human bodies, preserved through the process of plastination. One can see every bone, every muscle, every blood vessel and how intricately they all work together without our thinking about it. It was a neat experience, and I'm glad we had the opportunity to do it.
It's a pretty popular exhibit, too. It was hard to get tickets; and it was rather crowded when we were there. Also, apparently, there are people who are so moved by the exhibit that they want to sign up to donate their bodies specifically for this purpose. I heard that they have more people who want to donate their bodies for this exhibit than they can actually use.
At the very end of the exhibit, there's even some information about how you too can donate your body for this. One of my students, after reading about the body donation process, asked me with knitted eyebrows and real concern in her voice: "Mrs. Rowley, when you sign up to donate your body, do they kill you?" I managed not to smile as I explained that they wait for you to die of natural causes before they take your body.
But then later, I laughed.
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