Ag class dives into digestion
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RONAN — Ghoulish decorations of guts and gore haunted many Ronan corners over Halloween weekend, but for Ronan High School’s advanced agricultural class, guts and gore were nothing out of the ordinary.
In their study of animal science on Wednesday, teacher Emory Wilson and his class participated in the dissection of two stomachs. The stomachs, one of a cow and the other of a pig, were displayed and examined, in order to study the differences between the monogastric digestive system and rumen digestive system.
“I think kids learn better if they can actually see it,” Wilson explained. “If you learn in the book and go out in the field (to) implement those tools, I think it’s a benefit for the kids.”
Veterinarian Beth Blevins, who deals mostly with large animals, explained the difference between the two digestive systems to the class. The stomach of a pig, or a monogastric stomach can digest both meats and plants. It’s very similar to a human’s stomach.
The cow’s stomach or the rumen stomach is designed to digest plants. Horses, camels, sheep and goats have similarly designed stomachs.
The organs were taken from freshly butchered animals in Kalispell earlier in the morning. It took three men to drain fluids from the 200-pound cow stomach before transport, Blevins explained. She estimated that upon arrival, the enormous mass of entrails weighed about 60 pounds.
As Blevins sliced open the four different compartments of the cow’s stomach, students wearing plastic gloves had a literal hands-on experience examining digestion.
Most students immersed themselves in the lab, touching the interior of the organs and muscles, while some lingered on the outside of the group, hesitant to get up close and personal with the stomachs.
This isn’t the first lab the class has done and it won’t be the last. Throughout the year, Wilson takes education out of the classroom and into the field depending on the unit they’re studying.
The class also gives students an opportunity to meet and learn from different agricultural professionals. Aside from Blevins, Wilson has also introduced an agricultural marketing specialist, and in the next unit, he will bring in a nutritionist to help students understand proper nutrition for livestock.
Quite a few of the students are interested in horse science, and this could prepare them for future professional endeavors, Wilson said. His goal is to familiarize them with a variety of agricultural subjects, so “they can do what they really want to do.”
