Labster's new Anatomy Virtual Labs Feature Exploration Mode

A&P students can manipulate virtual anatomical models with Labster’s new self-guided feature, Exploration Mode

Introducing Exploration Mode

Labster’s Exploration Mode lets students take charge of their own learning, allowing them to discover anatomy at their own pace. Students can use the virtual experience of 3D Exploration Mode to augment their access to physical anatomical models which are often a limited resource in laboratories and classrooms.

4 New Anatomy & Physiology Virtual labs

Each of Labster's four new A&P virtual simulations lets students visualize, interact with, and open up the human body in a way that's only possible in a virtual environment.

1 - Introduction to the Male Reproductive System: Dive inside the duct system!

Take a journey through the male reproductive system! In this simulation, you will be introduced to the gonads, glands, and male reproductive tract in our detailed 3D model in Exploration Mode before diving inside the male reproductive system.

In the Introduction to the Male Reproductive System: Dive inside the duct system virtual lab, your students will study the anatomy of the male reproductive system. Using Exploration Mode, they will manipulate virtual 3D models of the primary and secondary male sex organs, just as they would do using plastic models in your lab.

Your students will:

• Explore an interactive virtual 3D anatomical model of the male reproductive system
• Piece together a puzzle of the testis and epididymis, learning about the structure of the testis and epididymis from spermatogenesis to ejaculation
• Embark on the ejaculatory journey from the tail of the epididymis into the ductus deferens, learning about the locations and functions of each of the three secretory glands along the way

Related simulations: Introduction to the Female Reproductive System virtual lab.

2 - Introduction to the Central Nervous System: Explore your body’s command center!

Inside Labster's Anatomy and Physiology lab, your student will explore the structures and functions of the brain and spinal cord. Can they will our lab assistant struggling with aphasia understand which area of their brain might be impaired?

In the Introduction to the Central Nervous System: Explore your body’s command center virtual lab, your students will begin to visualize, locate, and understand the brain and spinal cord. Using Exploration Mode, they will manipulate virtual 3D models of the brain and spinal cord, just as they would do using plastic models in your lab.

Your students will:

• Explore and observe the sections of the brain responsible for simple tasks like breathing and running, and more complex cognitive functions like speaking and solving a complicated mathematical equation
• Divide a model of the left cerebral hemisphere into five lobes and reassemble them to learn about the structures and specific higher cognitive functions with which they are involved
• Investigate the internal structure of the spinal cord, discovering which horns of the spinal cord carry sensory information and which contain motor neuron axons
• Predict symptoms we should expect if any of the regions of the spinal cord are damaged

3 - Skeletal Muscle Movement: Build your own muscle system

Help a company build a new personal training app by leading the discovery of the skeletal muscle system to investigate muscles’ movement and functional groups.

The Skeletal Muscle Movement: Build your own muscle system virtual lab offers students an introduction to the muscular system, helping them understand and visualize the roles of the muscles and how they move.

Your students will:

• Identify skeletal muscle attachment points, learning how muscles connect to the bones and tissues via origin and insertion points by using an interactive 3D skeletomuscular model of the upper arm.
• Figure out the five golden rules of muscle movement and activity by observing their alignment with the bones and tissues and noticing the ways they can contract
• Build a model of the upper arm muscle system by identifying the functional roles of the muscles, such as prime movers, antagonists, synergists, and fixators, and attach them in the correct places

4 - Body Planes and Sections: Locate a chimpanzee’s injuries

A chimpanzee has been found in distress in a sanctuary. Students will have to identify the locations of the chimpanzee’s injuries by learning the definitions of the anatomical position, regional and sub-regional terms, and applying body planes and directional terminology.

Do some of your anatomy students lack familiarity with the anatomical alphabet? The Body Planes and Sections: Locate a chimpanzee’s injuries virtual lab will introduce your students to fundamental anatomical terminology. As your course continues, students can revisit this self-guided lab and review these terms as needed.

Your students will:

• Piece together a chimpanzee model with regional and sub-regional puzzle pieces using human anatomy as a reference
• Learn the definitions of directional terms to be able to explain the location of the chimpanzee’s superficial and internal injuries
• Play a trivia game to test their knowledge of the anatomical position, body planes and sections, regional and sub-regional terms, and directional terminology

The Complete Guide to Anatomy & Physiology Virtual Labs

Curious to learn more about how science simulations can support Anatomy & Physiology? Read our comprehensive overview of Virtual Labs for Anatomy & Physiology.

Want to try all of Labster’s A&P virtual simulations?

Labster has a unique way to sample its catalog - and unlike other free trials of software, there are no strings attached. Educators are invited to get a 30-day all-access pass to play, review, share, and even assign Labster simulations to their students. Here’s how to start your free trial of Labster.