Hands on health at Deer Valley

For the third year in a row, faculty, staff and students from the UAB Department of Physiology and Biophysics will bring their outreach program PhUn Week (Physiology Understanding) to Deer Valley Elementary in November. Through this program students receive hands-on opportunities to explore the workings of the heart and lungs.

PhUn week is a nationwide event established in 2005 by the American Physiological Society. What began as a four-site pilot test across four states has expanded into a national program where grade school science teachers and students can connect with APS members to spark student curiosity in physiological science.

Another popular program, Body Trek, an interactive classroom that visits schools in the Birmingham metro area to teach students about living a healthy, safe lifestyle, also returns to Deer Valley in November. Body Trek is sponsored by Children’s Health Systems and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

As described by Brian F. Geiger and other Birmingham area health and physical educators, Body Trek is a colorful self-contained recreational vehicle, outfitted with various learning stations, lit pathways, video monitors and volunteer educators to guide students through the exhibits. Activities focus on personal health and safety, and include preventing home accidents, bicycle and seat belt safety, healthy nutritional habits, hand washing, physical fitness and brain function.