BODY WORLDS Vital: Guide for Families
BODY WORLDS is a incredible exhibition offering the unique opportunity to see and understand our own anatomy and health and to gain a new appreciation and respect for what it means to be human.
The exhibition features a unique collection of 200 authentic human specimens—including whole bodies, individual organs, and transparent body slices. Plastination is a process that replaces the natural fluids in the body with a type of flexible plastic. This allows the bodies to be fixed into lifelike poses that illustrate how our bodies are structured and how they function when performing everyday activities. The use of plastic for preservation also means that the specimens are odorless and completely dry
BODY WORLDS Vital provides families a chance to learn about the human body like never before. This incredible exhibition offers a unique opportunity to see and understand our own anatomy and health and gain a new appreciation for what it means to be human. Featuring a unique collection of 200 authentic human specimens, this exhibition shows how the body works when it is healthy and what happens when it breaks down. Visitors will see how lifestyle choices may affect the body such as the effects of smoking on the lungs and how artificial joints in knees and hips fit into a human skeleton.
Before taking children to the exhibit you are encouraged to download and review the contents of the exhibit Family Guide below, especially the Frequently Asked Questions section. You may also bring this Family Guide with you to the exhibition.
Click the image below to download the guide or download it from the musuem website: http://www.southcarolinastatemuseum.org/bodyworldsvital/Docs/FamilyGuide.pdf
During your visit, try to relate elements of the exhibition to experiences in your child‘s life (e.g. “Did you have any idea that you used so many muscles when you play soccer?”)
Answer your children‘s questions honestly. It‘s okay not to know all the answers. You might say: “I don‘t know the answer to that question, but we can look it up when we get home.”
Be sensitive to your own and your children‘s reaction. People come away from this exhibition with many different interpretations.
Click the image above to download the Family Guide today for more information including family fun facts and post-visit activities.
