Museum visitors learn how the body functions

Visitors to the Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) had chance to ‘Meet a Physiologist’ recently as part of the museum’s season of science engagement events.

Physiologists from The University of Manchester’s Faculty of Life Sciences and Cardiovascular Research Group in the School of Biomedicine were able to showcase their research to more than 5,000 visitors to the museum on Saturday, 3 September.

The public had the chance to learn about five key areas of human physiology: the heart, circulation, lungs, blood and kidneys. The public were able to take part in experiments, games, arts and craft and, new for this year, was a ‘Research Corner’ based around posters made by core research groups in the Cardiovascular Research Group and Life Sciences.

The researchers also provided interactive activities for visitors, giving them the chance to handle ox and sheep hearts, demonstrate a circulation model, or perform a simple experiment that complemented their research area. These activities were designed to give the public an insight into how research is carried out and the potential benefits it has.

“We used a microscope and camera, purchased using funds from a Physiological Society outreach grant, to show live daphnia – tiny, transparent, aquatic crustaceans – to allow people to observe their beating heart,” said Fiona Lynch, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine. “Visitors were asked to count heart beats per minute at room temperature and again after cooling with ice. We also had live zebrafish on show to stimulate topical discussion of their use in heart research.”

Fiona continued: “The opportunity to touch real hearts proved our most popular activity of the day, while the concept of hypertension – high blood pressure – was explored through the use of a model of the circulation system, allowing visitors to use syringes filled with fake blood attached to various sized tubing to assess ‘arterial resistance’. This simple, yet clever model, demonstrated that blood was more difficult to push or pump through tubes (arteries) of smaller lumen diameter than larger diameter.

“The influence of perivascular fat on blood vessel behaviour was explained through use of models and preserved arteries. These stands proved popular with older members of the public. Younger children found the dressing up box to be highly entertaining, and arts and crafts centred on the theme of cardiovascular science kept them busy and allowed their parents to explore the rest of the event.”