Ew! Wow! Gross! Cool! Those were all ways to describe the ¨Making Feces¨ lab in Dr. Park’s 7th grade science class.
For the past couple of weeks, science classes had been learning about the Digestive System. After everyone knew the facts, the fun began. The goal was to provide students a true to life experience about what they were learning about the digestive system.There was a mixture of excitement and fear towards the lab. Was it going to smell? Likely. Was it going to look disgusting? It was more than possible. And of course, those two questions were about to be answered.
The experiment began with smushing up food, which was easily the least revolting part of the assignment. Next came the mixture of vinegar, which students just had to settle for because there was a small problem with using large amounts of actual hydrochloric acid: it would likely burn through our hands. After that came the pill capsules of bile, (pepsin?), and then, hydrochloric acid were added to the mix. Next stop… feces. ¨Everybody thought it was gross and smelled bad,¨ said feces maker Zach Gold.
Here is one thing: feces did not look like how one thought it would. It was slimy and watery. The color was not even what was expected. The feces was a gooey mess, but this was not just any gooey mess. ¨It was disgusting, but an interesting way to figure out how our body makes feces,¨ said Gayathri Nair. After looking at this ¨wonderful¨ product, one conclusion was made: the seventh grade, had all together, made poop! ¨To poo or not to poo,¨ said feces making facilitator, Dr. Park.