Week 1 — A&P Lab / Scientific Inquiry · "Map the Body"

Course: Anatomy & Physiology I (BIOL 2301 + BIOL 2101) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Navarro
Objective: Objective 1 — use anatomical terminology; identify regions, planes, and directional relationships · SLO A (relate structure to function) · SLO B (use anatomical terminology correctly)
Worth 50 points · Labs group = 15% of the grade · Lab 1
Format: a guided exploration of a free virtual anatomy atlas (no download, nothing to buy) — you'll locate structures, describe their directional relationships, and then catch the AI's mistakes when it labels a body diagram.

This is the course's signature weekly component. Every instructional week has one A&P lab. This week's uses a free virtual anatomy atlas; later weeks add a virtual microscope (histology), PhET physiology simulations, and a few simple at-home measurements. All lab resources are links to external sites — nothing to buy or download.

Part 1 — The Big Picture

This week you learned the body's address system: the levels of organization, the reference pose (anatomical position), the directional terms, the planes, and the cavities. A clinician uses that system every time they chart a finding. Today you'll use it on a real body model — locate structures on a free virtual atlas and describe exactly where each one is, the way a precise chart entry would.

The scientific habit this builds: observation → precise description → checking your description against a reference. In A&P, "precise description" is the anatomical language — and the lab is where it becomes automatic.

Background (optional, ~5 min): OpenStax A&P §1.6, "Anatomical Terminology" — keep it open as your answer key for directions, planes, and cavities: 🔗 https://openstax.org/books/anatomy-and-physiology-2e/pages/1-6-anatomical-terminology

Part 2 — Your Scientific Question & Hypothesis

Anatomy labs still start like any inquiry — with a question and a prediction you'll test against evidence (here, the atlas).

The question: Can you describe the location of any structure on the body unambiguously, using only standard anatomical terms — so that another person could find the exact same spot?

Before you start, write your hypothesis / prediction:

I predict that for the structures below, I can name the correct cavity, the correct directional relationship to a neighbor, and the correct plane to best display it — and that when I ask an AI to do the same, it will make at least ______ labeling error(s) I can catch.

(There's no "right" number — you're predicting how reliable the AI will be, then checking.)

Part 3 — Materials & Procedure

You need (all free, in a browser):
- The InnerBody Anatomy Explorer (free, no download): 🔗 https://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html
- Optional second reference: OpenStax §1.6 (linked above).
- An approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) for Part 6.

Procedure:
1. Open the Anatomy Explorer and select the Skeletal System and the Nervous System views so you can see the brain, spinal cord, skull, sternum, and limb bones.
2. For each structure in the Part 4 table, find it on the atlas and record: (a) the body cavity it sits in (or "none — it's part of the body wall/limb"), and (b) one correct directional relationship to the listed neighbor.
3. For two structures, also name the plane that would best show it in cross-section.
4. Keep OpenStax §1.6 open and check each of your own answers against it before moving on.

No specific atlas access? Any free virtual anatomy atlas or 3D viewer works (e.g., GetBodySmart). The skill — describe location in standard terms and verify it — is identical.

Part 4 — Structure-Identification Table (fill this in)

Use only standard terms: superior/inferior, anterior(ventral)/posterior(dorsal), medial/lateral, proximal/distal, superficial/deep; cavities: cranial, vertebral, thoracic, abdominopelvic; planes: sagittal, frontal, transverse.

Part 5 — Identify the Reasoning

Answer in a sentence each:
1. Why must every directional term be read from anatomical position? Give one example where ignoring it leads to the wrong answer.
2. Two of the structures above are in the dorsal body cavity and two are in the thoracic cavity. Which are which, and what membrane/structure separates the thoracic from the abdominopelvic cavity?
3. Pick one structure and explain how its location protects its function (e.g., why is the brain encased where it is?). (This is the structure→function habit.)

Part 6 — AI-Critique Moment (required — this is the BYOAI step)

Now bring in your approved chatbot (Gemini, Claude, or ChatGPT) and be the clinician who checks its chart.

1. Paste this to the chatbot: "Label the directional relationships and cavities for these structures: brain, heart, sternum, elbow, wrist, stomach. For each, state the cavity and one directional relationship to a neighbor. Also tell me which plane divides the body into left and right."
2. Check everything it says against the atlas and OpenStax §1.6:
   - Did it call the sagittal plane (not the frontal) the one that divides left and right? Chatbots flip these constantly.
   - Did it keep the elbow proximal to the wrist (not distal)? Did it keep the sternum anterior to the heart?
   - Did it place the heart and lungs in the thoracic cavity (not the abdominal)? Did it put the stomach in the abdominopelvic cavity?
   - Did it ever call the thumb "medial" if it mentioned the hand? (It's lateral, from anatomical position.)
3. Write 2–3 sentences reporting what the AI got right and at least one labeling error you caught and corrected (with the correct term). If it happened to get everything right, say how you verified each label against the atlas — that's the skill.

The habit all term: the tool drafts, you judge. A chatbot will confidently flip a directional term or misplace an organ — catching it is the point, and in the clinic it's not optional.

Part 7 — What to Submit

Submit a single document (or text entry) with: your hypothesis/prediction, your completed Part 4 table, your Part 5 answers, and your Part 6 AI-critique paragraph. Due Sunday, Sep 6, 11:59 p.m. (50 points).

Instructor answer key — REMOVE BEFORE PUBLISHING TO STUDENTS

Every directional and cavity answer below is verified against standard anatomy (OpenStax §1.6). All terms read from anatomical position.

Part 4 — verified answer table:

• Part 5: (1) Anatomical position fixes a single reference pose (palms forward), so terms mean the same thing no matter how the body is actually lying — e.g., the thumb is lateral in anatomical position even though it sits "inward" when typing; ignore the pose and you'd mislabel it medial. (2) Dorsal-cavity structures here = brain (cranial) and spinal cord (vertebral); thoracic-cavity structure = heart; the diaphragm separates the thoracic from the abdominopelvic cavity (so the stomach, below it, is abdominopelvic). (3) Example: the brain sits in the cranial cavity, encased in skull bone and cushioned by cerebrospinal fluid — its location protects the soft, vital tissue that controls everything else (structure of the enclosure serves the function of protection).
• Part 6 (AI-critique): full credit for a specific catch — most commonly the AI calling the frontal plane the left/right divider (it's the sagittal), flipping elbow/wrist to "distal," or placing the heart in the abdominal cavity. Full credit also if the student verified each label against the atlas and OpenStax.

Grading rubric — 50 points

Quality gate (self-checked): every cavity and directional relationship in the key is verified against standard anatomy (OpenStax §1.6) — brain superior to cord; heart in the thoracic cavity, posterior to the sternum; elbow proximal to the wrist; stomach inferior to the diaphragm in the abdominopelvic cavity; the sagittal plane divides left/right. No structure is mislabeled; all terms read from anatomical position. Anatomy-accuracy gate: PASS. (No arithmetic in Week 1's lab, so the quantitative gate does not apply this week; it begins with the Week 2 pH lab.)