One prompt a week. Post Friday, reply Sunday.
Eight prompts, one per week. Each one ties the week's anatomy to a clinical scenario. Open the prompt to read it in full and prepare your answer. When you're ready, submit on Canvas.
Weekly prompts
Eight discussions, one per week.
Each prompt unlocks at the same time as the rest of that week's material (Sunday 8 PM PT before the week begins, Week 1 opens Saturday June 6 at 8 PM PT). Open the prompt to read it and draft your post, then submit on Canvas.
Cadence. Initial post due Friday 11:59 PM. Two substantive replies due Sunday 11:59 PM. Evidence-based, your own words.
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00
Module 0 · Open from day one
Welcome to BIO 304
Introduce yourself to the class. Where are you headed in allied health, why A&P, and what one thing about your body do you most want to understand by the end of the term.
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01
Week 1 · Jun 8 to Jun 14
Finding homeostasis in your own life
Pick a setpoint your body holds steady (temperature, glucose, hydration, blood pressure, sleep) and describe a recent moment when it had to work to maintain it. Walk through the loop in your own words.
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02
Week 2 · Jun 15 to Jun 21
Tissue, location, function
Pick one specific location in the human body (lining of the trachea, inside of a knee joint, surface of an alveolus). Name the tissue, describe how its structure fits its job, and explain what would go wrong if a different tissue type were there instead.
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03
Week 3 · Jun 22 to Jun 28
A fracture story
Find a real-world fracture story (yours, a family member's, a famous athlete's, a news article). Walk through what tissue was damaged, the healing cascade, and what bone biology made the recovery faster or slower than expected.
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04
Week 4 · Jun 29 to Jul 5
When the message fails
Pick one place where the neuromuscular signal can break down (action potential, neuromuscular junction, cross-bridge cycle). Explain what fails, what symptom that produces, and what a clinician would observe.
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05
Week 5 · Jul 6 to Jul 12
A sense or a hormone you took for granted
Pick one sense or one hormone. Describe a specific situation where it was disrupted (yours, someone you know, or a clinical case). Trace the pathway, name the failure point, and explain the downstream effect.
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06
Week 6 · Jul 13 to Jul 19
Blood pressure as a story
A 68-year-old walks into clinic. BP 158/94, heart rate 76, regular, no meds, about 30 lbs above ideal weight. Explain what each number means, which compartments are driving the elevation, and what one physiologic change you'd target first.
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07
Week 7 · Jul 20 to Jul 26
A barrier breached
Pick one situation where a barrier (skin, mucosa, airway, gut) was breached (illness, infection, allergy, food poisoning, asthma attack). Trace the immune and physiologic response from the moment the line was crossed.
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08
Week 8 · Jul 27 to Aug 2
Looking back across eight weeks
Capstone reflection. Pick a single moment from your own life or a clinical observation that you now understand differently because of this course. Connect it to specific physiology you can name and explain.
Reference shelf
Open these alongside the work.
Free atlases and the textbook, each in its own tab.
- OpenStax A&P 2e free peer-reviewed textbook, online or PDF
- BlueLink, University of Michigan cadaver atlas, dissection videos, clinical correlates
- Duke Histology slide images for every tissue type