new lecture by Professor J

It's been a long time since Professor J has graced us with one of his world-renown lectures. In honor of his "light" (read the sarcasm) summer reading topics (chosen by him, not me, I thought toadstools and wizards would have been good....), the topic for this self-illustrated lecture was:

Human Anatomy and Physiology
by Professor J

In this first illustration, we see some of the components of the skeletal system. The skeletal system is made up of bones (unfortunately I can't remember quite what he said about the actual components that make bones, but I assure you, it was accurate), and where bones come together, they form joints, such as the elbow, wrist and knuckles, which are the joints of the fingers, also called phalanges. (Ok, ok, I have no doubt I massacred the spelling of that, but remember, it was a LECTURE, not an essay....) The skeletal system is what gives us our basic shape and provides the foundation for all of the other systems.


Next we have the muscular system (note the jazzy spelling! I inadvertently chuckled at it and from this point on, he refused to label his illustrations. Bad Mommy....). The bones are covered with muscles which, with the help of ligaments and tendons, move the joints and allows us to run, jump, and participate in sports.



The muscles respond to instructions sent from the brain by the nervous system. The Central Nervous system runs from the brain through the middle of the body. The Central Nervous System (or CNS) connects to the peripheral nervous system in the arms and legs. So when a person wants to scratch an itch, the brain sends an electrical signal through the CNS, which then travels to the peripheral nervous system, which tells the muscles to respond. So then you scratch your nose.

This is the sensory system. (And yes, I guessed wrong SEVERAL times as to what this was an illustration of. I'm lucky he didn't make me wear a dunce cap and sit in a corner!) The sensory system includes sight (eyes), hearing (ears), smell (nose), taste (tongue), and touch (skin). Sometimes something goes wrong with the sensory system. Like you, Mommy (gee, thanks J....), you were born with bad eyes. Sometimes that happens, and then this happens: (Ok, my bad, the photo I took of his next illustration didn't come out -- he drew eyeglasses on that face. He thought he was pretty clever and amusing. He was right.) That's right! Eyeglasses can help people whose vision doesn't work right be able to see like normal people. (So glad I can almost pass for normal....)

None of us could live without the circulatory system. The heart pumps and sends blood through the whole body through the veins and arteries. Unoxygenated blood travels first through the lungs to pick up oxygen to bring to the muscles through the arteries. Without oxygen, the muscles wouldn't work right and would DIE. (Always there is a sinister emphasis on that word....) The same with the brain and other organs, they need oxygen to work right, otherwise the person would DIE. After the oxygen gets to where it's going, the blood returns through veins. And then the whole cycle starts over again. (He also had an illustration of lungs doing their thing, along with aveoli and all that jazz that takes place in the lungs. I was too slow getting a picture, and zip! it was gone and he was on to the next illustration.)

The digestive system (which he's given an entire separate lecture about in the past -- oh, he's done that with the heart too....) fuels the body by taking in food through the mouth, and carrying it to the stomach where it is digested by acid. Then it moves trough the intestines, first the small intestine, and then the large intestine. Eventually the waste products pass through the colon and come out the anus as poop. (He went on to discuss the urinary system, along with a very simple drawing of two kidneys, a bladder, and a penis, but I figured I'd keep the drawings I posted G-rated....which is why I don't have any info on the reproductive system either, which he described -- and drew -- with his usual attention to detail.)

At this point, the lecture had gone on for at least 45 minutes, and I was starting to zone out, check email, etc. (There are frequent breaks in his lectures while he draws the next illustration, so keeping focus isn't as simple as you would think, despite the fact that he's a pretty engaging professor!) I missed snapping photos of his illustrations of the limbic system (eek, he knows more about that than I ever did!) and the endocrine system, but I did manage to catch this nifty illustration during his diatribe on the immune system -- that's a white blood cell about to devour a bacteria. There's just no mystery to illness for this kid!

He wrapped up by saying that he knows all this stuff because he's going to be a doctor when he grows up. Probably an endocrinologist. Or maybe a geneticist. Okey dokey, J!

Of course, this morning he told me he's going to be an ecologist and study endangered ecosystems. Isn't it great to be 8?! You can be something different every day.