Integumentary System - Trifle Demo
By Lisa Jones Bromfield
This activity is from anatomyphysiologystudyguide.com/activities-by-system/integumentary-system
Skin is not a trifling thing
Make trifle where you use different substances for the different layers of skin.
(Trifle is a British dessert with layers of fruit, pieces of cake, pudding, whipped cream, crumbled
cookies, etc. in a glass bowl.)
You might have lab groups / study groups split up the layers of the skin.
You can have the group discuss what substances they will use for each layer and why. In other
words, they should assign an ingredient to a layer for a reason whether compositional, physical
appearance, or any other reason that links the ingredient with the characteristics of a particular
layer of the integument.
Then they can bring the separate layers to put together along with a poster board to place beside
the dish explaining the connections between the substances and the layers of skin.
Alternately, you can bring the substances and let each group come up with their own explanation
on paper that identifies and explains the layers and substances used. Trifles are traditionally
made in a clear straight-sided bowl, but tall, clear plastic cups would work as well.
As always, there is a way to do this on Blackboard that does not use class time. Students can
create their ‘In-trifle-egumentaries’ in groups on their own and then take a picture of both their
finished product and their explanatory poster with labels and post it to blackboard. Students
could also video someone explaining the layers as they build their trifle.