The What and How

[Bastion R. Williams]

Bastion walked calmly into the room, his classroom. He might have never really taught before, but he knew that there wasn't really that much to teaching either. He had tutored before when he was a student, and that wasn't much different.

As he walked up to his desk, he set his white briefcase down and turned to look at the board. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the board, so that anyone who looked would be able to see it. He then opened his briefcase and began to pull out some papers as the first students began to trickle in.

He walked from table to table, each which could hold four students, placing four papers on each table. The papers, if looked at, were his rules for the class, and the syllabus, even though he might not keep exactly to it. After he finished, Bastion walked back up to the front and opened a door to the storage closet that was attached to his room. He looked around a bit, finding some odd, and interesting items hidden on the shelves.But he wasn't looking for any of that stuff. He was looking for what he found hidden in the back, among a mass of other items, just like it, but broken. This one was the only one that seemed in tact. Bastion grabbed it by its frame and walked it out to the front of the classroom. What was it? A skeleton. Bastion went back into the closet and came back out with a few more pieces of another skeleton, which he would use for examples.

After he had gathered all of the items, he went and sat on the edge of his des, leaning on the edge while having his legs crossed on the ground in front of him. He put his hands ont the edge as well, and walked as the students finally came in, keeping a mental note of how many were in there. When the final student came in, he removed his hand and placed one across his abdomen, the otheron top of it, the elbow resting in the palm of the lower hand. The other arm he had raised so that the joint where the finger met the hand was touching his lips. He gazed at the class, taking in their faces, and making mental bets about what some of the students might be like.

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak, his thick British accent coming through very well.

"Welcome to Anatomy and Physiology. I am Mr. Bastion R. Williams. You may address me as Mr. Williams, or just Bastion. On your desk is my rules and the syllabus, read it at your leisure. But now onto the class. I want each of you to write down on a piece of paper what you know about the body, functions and parts. When you are done, please bring it up to me. Oh! And write your name on it as well."

He sat there as he waited, and placed his hands on the edge of the desk again. Not only was this a test of their knowledge, but told him how quickly some of them could work, due to how much was on their papers, and how quickly it took them to write that much.

[anjafurey]

She would set out a piece of paper on the table before her, taking a mere glance at the syllabus before her. She leaned over the table some, her elbow resting on the surface with her head on the palm of her hand. Her brown hair would fall back against her shoulder while the hand that held her pen kept it from falling into her face to obstruct her view of the paper before her. Uncapping the pen, Anja would set it to her paper before the pen began moving back and forth in strokes to explain her knowledge of the human body and its functions. But first, she labled the paper as such:

Anja Furey (Ahn-jah Fuhr-ree)

How she loathed having her name mispronounced by an english speaker who knew nothing of Western languages. Of course, she could not know if this teacher could pronounce her name correctly, but it would save him her aggrivation. With the paper labled, she went on with what she was writing as vaguely and as pithy as she could:

Nervous system:
The main role of the nervous system is to relay electrical signals through the body. The nervous system directs behaviour and movement and, along with the endocrine system, controls physiological processes such as digestion, circulation, etc.
Brain- cerebellum (hind part), forebrain (consisting of cerebrum: largest part of the brain, divided symmetrically, covered by gray matter called, "cerebral cortex. And diencephalon- hypothalamus and thalamus part of diencaphalon; ; spinal cord- dorsal side of body; neuron- neuron tissue/composed of neurons and glial tissue. Functional unit of nervous system; peripheral nervous system; somatic nervous system; axons- carry messages away from cell body; basil and apical dendrites- receive information and transmits it to cell body; cell body- receptive part of nerve; major nerves: sciatic nerve- largest nerve in body.

Organs:
Composed of two different types of tissue; bones, epidermis, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, skelatal muscles, smooth muscles, heart, vessels, blood, nose, trachea, lungs, Mouth, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, Kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra, hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, pancreas and adrenal glands, Female: ovaries, oviducts, uterus, vagina and mammary glands; Male: testes, seminal vesicles and penis. Lymph, lymph nodes and vessels, white blood cells, T- and B- cells.

And on she went, much like that, using what she knew from past classes and even knowledge from her own experiences, to create a list of systems within the body, names of major bones, types of joints, tissues within the body and much more. Once she was done, she stood up from her seat and approached Bastion. The brown hair fell back to its original position, slightly untidy from her rush to school this morning. Hazel eyes met the teacher's own as she handed over the paper. Her handwriting was small, partly in cursive and some in print. It was indicative that she wrote quickly. In addition to the notes, arrows and lines indicated some connections to each section on the notes, but ultimately, nothing, at least to her, and hopefully the teacher, would seem confusing.

"Enjoy," She would state softly, her voice barely above a whisper and audible only to herself and to Bastion. Without a smile, she would turn around, letting go of the paper as she headed back to her seat. Eyes did not meet the rest of the class as she walked, the heels of her pumps making a soft thud on the tile floor before she resumed her seat. She pulled the syllabus in front of her, but did not read it. Only look at it vaguely as she thought of the reason why she was even here. A distant gleam came to her eyes; it was apparent she had zoned out and was deep in thought as she awaited the next part of the class.

[Aureus]

Anatomy and Physiology. Aureus' second class of the day. One that he didn't really find too thrilling. But it was crucial that he attended and pass. In addition, it would assist in his fighting. Knowing where and when to hit someone was valuable information. Sure, the teacher would tell them those kinds of things, but it could be deduced. And if there's anything the Freshmen was good at it was taking everything he learnt and applying it to his needs.

A quick look around the classroom would tell Aureus he was one of the first to arrive. Among the students was one of the more...annoying people he had met. The girl from psychology. The one that had the teacher wrapped around her finger. Hopefully she wouldn't be a nusence today, and maybe she'd do something that would give him more insight as to her personality and motives. The instructor seemed nice enough, and his rules were fair. It had only taken the schizo about a minute to go over his rules and lesson plan for the year. And what came next was no surprise. The man wanted to see what they already knew. What he could skip, what he had to pay more attention to, who would do fine on their own, and who would need assistance.

With a yawn the student pulled his notebook from his bookbag, sat it on the desk and opened it, pulled a pen from his pocket, and got to work. All the reading he had done over the years granted him a fair knowledge of numerous subjects. In addition, the teacher at his last school had an interesting passion for teaching this very subject. Before his pen began to move, the schizo pulled everything he could remember to the front of his mind.

Human anatomy or anthropotomy is a special field within anatomy. It studies gross structures and systems of the human body, leaving the study of tissues to histology and cells to cytology. Physiology, study of the normal functioning of animals and plants during life and of the activities by which life is maintained and transmitted. It is based fundamentally on the activities of protoplasm. The study of function is usually undertaken along with a study of structure, the two being intimately related.

And now to write everything he remembered down:


Human organ systems:

Cardiovascular system: blood circulations with heart and blood vessels

Digestive system: processing food with mouth, stomach and intestines

Endocrine system: communicating within the body using hormones

Immune system: defending against disease-causing agents

Integumentary system: skin, hair and nails

Lymphatic system: structures involved in the transfer of lymph between tissues and the bloodstream

Muscular system: moving the body

Nervous system: collecting, transferring and processing information with brain and nerves

Reproductive system: the sex organs

Respiratory system: the organs used for breathing, the lungs

Skeletal system: structural support and protection through bones

Urinary system: the kidneys and associated structures involved in the production and excretion of urine


External Features:

Skin

Head - Forehead - Eye - Ear - Nose - Mouth - Tongue - Teeth - Jaw - Face - Cheek - Chin

Neck - Throat - Adam's apple -

Shoulders - Arm - Elbow - Wrist - Hand - Fingers - Thumb

Spine - Chest - Breast - Ribcage

Abdomen - Belly button - Sex organs (Penis/Scrotum or Clitoris/Vagina) - Rectum - Anus

Hip - Buttocks - Leg - Thigh - Knee - Calf - Heel - Ankle - Foot - Toes


Internal Organs:

Adrenals - Appendix - Bladder - Brain - Duodenum - Eyes - Gall bladder - Heart - Intestines - Kidney - Liver- Lungs - Ovaries - Pancreas - Parathyroids - Pituitary - Prostate - Spleen - Stomach - Testicles - Thymus - Thyroid - Veins - Womb

Yes, pulling all that from his memory took around twenty minutes. He would have written more, but some of it was a little blocky. No to mention, the teacher asked for a page or two, not a book.

[Bastion R. Williams]

As the final papers came in, Bastion flipped through them, reading what each had. Most had put basic stuff, what every high school kid should know. There was one or two that stood out... Specifically the only person to grammatically write her name. Anja Furey.

Bastion set the papers on his desk, near his briefcase, and rose from the edge of his desk. He looked around and smiled. He then put his hands together lightly and placed the fingertips of his pointers to his lips. He moved them back slightly as he spoke, his British accent seeping through.

"Well, this is good. Most of you seem to know a good amount about the human body, so I can skip the elementary portion of the class. I can also use bigger words that I'm sure you can understand, and ones that you can't. Such as the nutrient foramen. What is it? Unless anyone knows, I'll go ahead and tell you."

Not seeing any raised hands, Bastion continued.

"The nutrient foramen is a small hole in each bone that is where blood vessels and nerves enter and exit the bone. So, on that point, I'll give you all one guess as to what we are going to be studying first... That's right! The skeleton system! Yay for the basics!"

Bastion turned and walked over to the pile of bones on his desk, and picked up the largest one, a femur. He turned back around to face the students, standing in the middle of the desks, since there were only two rows. The bottom of the femur he had was lightly tapping against the top of his calf.

"The bone is a very complex object, some in the body which are meant to withstand lots of pressure, and others are meant to transmit sound. Firstly, we are going to find out what bones are made of."

Bastion raised the femur to hold both ends in his hands at a comfortable level.

"This is a femur. It is the biggest and strongest bone in the body. It needs to be, since we are almost always putting pressure on it. Can anyone tell me what it is made of?"

Once again, Bastion saw no hands raised.

Wow... I got a lively bunch.

"Oi... don't all ask at once. Anyway, a bone is made of tissue. Very dense tissue. Tissue like what makes up your skin, but a different kind of tissue. And it isn't just made solely of tissue, since our bones would be extremely heavy then. Our bones are made of layers of things."

Bastion turned back around and walked to the board, plaing the femur on his desk again. When at the board, he grabbed a piece of chalk and put a diagram of a bone on the board. He darkened just under outside of the bone and labeled it "Compact Bone". He then turned around to address the students again.

"The outside layer you always see is supported by compact bone, also known as cortical bone. This is very durable, and gives the bone its strength."

Bastion turned back around to draw on the board again, but stopped and turned his head to speak to the students over his shoulder.

"If I'm going to fast... please tell me. Or does anyone have any questions so far? And don't be afriad to stop me and ask things. You don't ask, I assume you know, or don't care."

[Athena]

Walking into the classroom Mr. Jones would take a seat in the back left corner of the room, to watch over the class. He hoped he wasn't disturbing much, he just wanted to check on a few things. Watch a teacher at work, with his students. This would hopefully be a better experience than gettign here to this point.

The female that accompanied him went to watch other classes.

[Sean Timson]

Seems like he knows the topic at least, and he's not beating anyone yet, Sean noted about the teacher lecturing at the front of the class, Maybe they're hope yet. Sean noticed the evaluator and sighed, knowing from experience how pissy the faculty got if they failed an inspection. Might as well save these kids from themselves once again

"What would happen without the cortical bone?" Sean spoke up from the back of the class. Sean decided not to completely alienate him like most of the teachers who were overgrown bullies that had the best fighters in the school backing them. Who knows, maybe they weren't all bad.

[Bastion R. Williams]

Bastion watched as the new man joined them for the time being, and assumed he was another teacher, or school official, by the way he was dressed. He decided to continue on.

"Okay, continuing on. Under the layer of compact bone is a layer of porus bone called cancellous bone, also known as spongy bone, due to it appearance. This gives the bone a good bit of strength as well, but keeps the bone light. If that was compact bone as well, our frames would be rather heavy and we would move much slower."

Bastion drew in another layer of bone, making slash marks in it to make it different than the first layer. It was also considerably thicker at the ends of the bone than the first layer. But in the shaft of the bone, it was much thinner. He then drew a line from it and labeled it "Cancellous Bone".

"This layer forms most of the ends of your long bone, but is considerably thinner than the compact bone in the shaft."

Bastion stopped for questions and to take a quick look at the face of his guest, to see if he could guess as to what exactly the man might be thinking... no luck.

"Outside of these layers, is a membrane that covers every part of the bone except for the ends. This layer of membrane is called the periosteum, and contains cells which form bone. So this layer gives the bone a slim amount of protection, and forms more bone when the bones need to grow or heal."

Bastion turned to the board and drew a line from the outside of the bone, labeling it "Periosteum". He would most likely stop soon, wanting to get questions in, and not wanting to overload the students with information on their first day.

"Okay. On the ends of the bones is not periosteum, but a kind of cartilage. It reduces friction and grindin' between bones, allowing them to move more easily. Since this is at the joints, it is called articular cartilage."

He grabbed the only other color chalk in the holder and drew around the edges of the bone in it. He then switched back to the white chalk and labeled it "Articular Cartilage". He then quickly drew another line on the other side of the cancellous bone, and labeled it "Endosteum".

"Now, here's is the first example you will get of similar words that you will need to differentiate. One the outside of the bone was PERIosteum. On the inside, under the canellous bone is ENDosteum. This layer lines a cavity inside the bone, and keeps anything from getting to what it store. What is that cavity? What does it store? That cavity is the medullary cavity, and it stores bone marrow."

Bastion turned to the board and drew one line to the middle part of the bone, labeling it "Medually Cavity". beside that, he put a tick mark and wrote "stores Bone Marrow, Red or Yellow". He then turned back around and faced students.

"There are two kinds of bone marrow, red and yellow. Red bone marrow creates red and some white blood cells. Yellow bone marrow replaces red bone marrow as a person grows older, and stores mainly fat."

Bastion looked around the room again, trying to get an idea of if the students were confused or not.

"Okay, any questions before I assign homework?"

[Aureus]

This man was new. Not at 259, but teaching all together. At least he made it seem that way. How could Aureus tell? Simple, he expected them to ask questions. The majority of what he was saying wasn't too hard to understand and didn't require any questions. Aureus simply listened intently to what he said, wrote, and drew. All of it he copied into his spiral notebook, using the same type of organization he always did. Each new topic or subject was written to the left with it's detailed information under it farther to the right. Alot of this he had heard before, but didn't remember. He would go over this for ten minutes later that night.

As a teacher, Aureus ranked him pretty high. He knew what he was talking about, relayed it in an intelligent/easy to understand manner, and was well mannered and patient. In addition he tone was audible and lively, something that stopped the students from getting bored and falling asleep. It was nice that he asked if they had any questions, but he would have to rely on the students to take care of themselves. He didn't have to do it. He was too nice. Which wasn't really bad, but wasn't really good. Either way, the schizo approved. Finally a teacher that didn't seem like he was opposed to his students.