On Wednesday, the 9th of march, the students at ‘Walthamstow School for Girls’ visited the ‘Royal Veterinary College’ for a day of activities that would introduce us to the wider world of animals and biology. The students in the Year 10 triple went to the RVC to experience the different studies they might come about if they decided to enrol in this school. Being one of the participants, I will be describing the different elements of the school and what we learnt.
We were greeted warmly at the entrance, the ambiance of the school really shone through; there were fascinating displays of different bone arrangements of animals and fossils. They were in the fact that fossils they had were past patients. The first room we entered was the museum, in which were many interesting bisected animals and bones. We began with an educational activity of matching different bones given to us with the animals they belonged to and the sort of bone they were. My group did well in finding the matches; it was quite apparent that many animals shared alike bones and you could tell a lot about the originator of the bone from its size and weight. A member of my group, Stef, quotes, “they ranged from elephant teeth to cervical vertebrae and seal skulls.” It was incredibly education and surprising; we learnt a lot about the anatomy of different animals as well as the different fields you could take in biology and working with animals. Sophia says, “the anatomy activity is one activity I really enjoyed as it allowed us to work with classmates,” Additionally, she thought the students at the university were, “really invested in what they did.”
The following activity was my personal favourite! We went in to view two live calves; they were brilliantly trained and very friendly. Once we got our lab coats on, we went to the first cow, fittingly with the name of Marshmallow. We go to learn a lot about the anatomy of cows and the placement of the different organs- it was particularly surprising to find out that they had four stomachs. The next calf was particularly vocal; we had further enrichment on the biology of cows, and we had the chance to pet them as well.
It was a truly special experience, the staff made you feel welcome and educated on the different maters of biology and animals. I would definitely recommend researching the RVC further if you are interested in working with animals and enjoy biology.
