Hey everyone!
I just wanted to post to make sure everyone is up to speed on the midterm next week. The midterm will be very similar to your other in-lab quizzes with a few minor exceptions. First, (obviously) the midterm will cover everything that we have covered so far this semester. Don't forget to go back and study the development material (e.g. 24, 48, 72 hour chick slides). Also, the quiz will have a few extra slide questions, which will make the "U-finds" worth a half point each this week instead of a full point. To make it to the ten points, we will also have two "We-Find" questions where we point to a structure on a microscope in the back of the room, and you have to identify the structure. The slide label will be covered and you won't be able to change the zoom or move the slide. You can adjust the focus if you need to :) Besides those small differences, the midterm quiz will feel totally normal for you guys and will be great practice for the final!
My biggest suggestion for doing well on the midterm is identifying landmarks for each of the organs you have learned (what makes each organ unique, ex: thymus vs. the liver, spleen vs. lymph node, hyaline cartilage vs. fibrocartilage). The hardest thing for students is often figuring out what organ the picture is showing. If you have good landmarks for each organ, it will make this step a lot easier. Once you figure out which organ you are in, attack the question. If you are coming up blank on the question, it helps to think about what structures you have learned for that specific organ and then go from there. If you are having trouble finding a landmark on the slide and identifying the organ, look for the most noticeable characteristics (i.e. epithelium, glands, cartilage, etc.) and go through process-of-elimination-style in your head which organs have those characteristics (e.g. what structures have I learned that have stratified squamous epithelium and glands in the submucosa??). Once you get good at that, you are normally only a couple of steps away (at most) from figuring out which organ you're in. If you are having trouble coming up with good landmarks, feel free to contact us! My last suggestion before I get off my soap box: try to look at as many pictures of the structures as you can as you're studying. Looking at the same picture over and over can only help you so much. The links on the right are great for practice with this. Good luck! You guys are all going to do great.
