Teaching Tales: About Pee

The following semester at NVCC, I taught Bio 102, and we came to the lab on the excretory system, which produces urine. After locating the fetal pig’s kidneys, bladder, and other parts of the system, the students had the opportunity to experiment on themselves. 

“Okay, please put away your pigs and wash your hands. Then take your seats to wait until the rest of the class is ready.” I waited for the commotion to die down. “For this part of the lab, you’re going to obtain a specimen of your own urine and do experiments on it, so please come forward and pick up a disposable cup.”

Objection

“Dr. Crocker, do we have to? Can’t just one of us provide the pee?” wailed a girl.

“No, for safety reasons, everyone must work on their own urine and not someone else’s. If there are reasons why you can’t participate, come and see me privately.” I had resolved that, in the case of a girl menstruating or someone with another good excuse, I would provide artificial urine. Although adequate for the lab’s purposes, synthetic urine reduced the interest level, so I wanted to keep its use to a minimum. I passed out the cups and the students trooped off to the various bathrooms.

 Pride

“Dr. Crocker, look!” beamed Carson, a young man who appeared to enjoy lifting weights, as he reentered the room. “My pee is frothy. And, I nearly filled the beaker.”

“Very good, Carson. Now, put it down before it spills.” I was used to Carson bragging about his face, his body, and his dress sense, but this was amazing.

Carson sneered at his lab partner, a shy teen called Senichi. “Hey man, Sen, is that all you could do?”

Senichi was quiet for a moment, then he answered. “I go for quality, not quantity.”

Smiling, I turned to Carson. “Okay, now, settle down. What’s the first thing you need to write about your urine?”

“Uh, how much?”

“No, look at your lab book. You need to observe the color and whether it’s cloudy.” I pointed at the spot on the page. “Write it down here.”

 Green Urine?

I then moved on to the next table to watch a studious group of young men writing down their observations. Leaning over to see what they were writing, I was startled to see that one of them had reported his urine as being green.

“Luis, which urine is yours?”

He pointed at a container of yellow-orange fluid.

“Oh, you haven’t had much to drink today, have you?” 

Luis hung his head. “I only just got up in time to come here. I didn’t have time for breakfast.” 

“That doesn’t matter, but why did you write that your urine is green?”

Luis looked at me in astonishment. “Because it is…look at it.” 

“Dude,” drawled one of his lab partners. “It’s orange.” 

A suspicion formed in my mind, but it would be the next lab, on the senses, before it was confirmed that Luis was, in fact, color blind.

 What are Those?

I continued around the lab, checking on student progress, when a whisper stopped me. “Dr. Crocker, could you look in my microscope?”

I looked. Students were often surprised to find that urine can contain crystals and epithelial cells. However, Una’s urine sample was full of sperm. “Umm, yes, that’s very interesting,” I said, unsure of how to respond, and moved towards the front of the room.

Una followed me. “Do I have some awful infection?”

I glanced at her bare ring finger. “No, I think maybe you have a boyfriend.”

 After a moment, the penny dropped, and Una, blushing, went back to her bench.

 Later, I found out that she was dating Carson. Wouldn’t he have been proud!

 Sometimes, being a teacher is about figuring out how to tackle the weird stuff!