Go live into the operating room and watch via video conference as a surgical team performs heart surgery. Talk to the team, learn about heart health and find out about medical careers.
Live from the Heart
Live from the Heart registration is currently limited to online attendance only.
- Grades: 9-12
- Capacity (Virtual): 40 students and teachers per registration. Sessions limited to four remote participating groups per session.
- Duration: 2.5 hours
- Cost: $300
- Offered Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (limited availability)
- Students and teachers can participate remotely from anywhere with a web-enabled device capable of using Zoom.
How the program works
Each Live from the Heart is offered simultaneously to four classrooms around the country who participate in the same program using videoconferencing. Students can submit questions to the surgical team to be answered in real time.
Trained Museum educators facilitate the videoconference program. You'll follow our lead and co-facilitate the experience with us. At approximately 9:15 a.m. Central Time, we'll connect to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Ill. to watch the surgery.
A few weeks before your program date, we'll send you links to curriculum materials for use in your classroom, including several classroom activities for use before and after the videoconference.
Zoom technology works on most browsers but we recommend that you check Zoom’s website to make sure your device and browser fit the technical specifications. You do not need to download Zoom but you can use the app if you have it. If you have a problem that you think won't be resolved in time, please call us at (773) 947-6798.
Each session is limited to four participating remote groups. Once we have four participating groups, that session will be closed.
Lab goals
- Increase their understanding of science concepts as they relate to heart surgery
- Have an increased awareness of STEM careers
- Have an increased comfort exploring and engaging in the content
- Have a desire to learn more extending the ideas explored in the lab
- Work collaboratively with peers
- Communicate using correct terminology
- Develop questions regarding anatomy of the heart, careers in the operating room, and their personal health.
- Predict and observe what happens during the major steps of the surgery
- Practice observation skills by recording patient and surgery data.
- Understand how lifestyle choices affect personal health
Classroom connections
Next Generation Science Standards
Science and Engineering Practices
- Asking questions
- Obtaining, evaluating and communicating information
Crosscutting Concepts
- Cause and effect
- Systems and system models
- Structure and function
Disciplinary Core Ideas
- LS 1: From molecules to organisms; structure and function
- LS 3: Heredity; inheritance and variation of traits
- ETS2: Links among engineering, technology, science and society
Extend learning with these resources
These classroom activities, appropriate for grades 9 - 12, will provide your students with the background they need to attend the live broadcast of open-heart surgery. These activities follow a typical patient, Mr. Harvey, through initial doctor consultation, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment for coronary artery disease.
Classroom lessons
- Introduction
- Lesson 1: Presenting the Patient
- Lesson 2: Let's Circulate
- Lesson 3: The Heart Has Needs, Too!
- Lesson 4: Let's Treat It
- Lesson 5: Let's Educate
- Lesson 6: Heart Surgery Time Machine
- Lesson 7: Bypass Activity
- Lesson 8: Grand Rounds Report Form
Museum connections
Frequently Asked Questions:
Your class must participate on one of the scheduled program dates on Wednesdays mornings between September 4, 2024 and June 11, 2025 (except 11/27, 12/25, and 1/1/25) from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Central (the length of the surgery). Your students and participants will need to connect individually and for the entire session.
Groups may connect via Zoom from a classroom with video-conferencing equipment. These groups do not have student limits as they will be using only one Zoom connection. Teachers will need to enter student questions into the Q&A of the webinar.
Live from the Heart is $300. A 30 percent non-refundable deposit must be received two weeks prior to the start of your program quarter as follows:
- Fall programs (September - November): Deposit due early September.
- Winter programs (December - February): Deposit due early November.
- Spring programs (March - June): Deposit due mid-February.
If you do not submit your deposit in time, your session will be given to another group. You will receive an email reminder about the deposit policy two weeks before your deposit is due. Final full payment is due two weeks before your scheduled session. If you do not pay in full on time, your session will be given to another group and you will forfeit your deposit.
Scholarships are available to qualifying schools. See the Live from the Heart Registration form for details.
If you call to reschedule prior to the start of your program quarter, you will be moved to an available spot or put on the waiting list if no spots are available. If the rescheduled session is in the current program quarter, the 30 percent deposit is due immediately, with the remainder due two weeks prior to your session. Groups that reschedule also will be charged a $10 rescheduling fee.
If you call to reschedule during your program quarter up to two weeks before your session and we are unable to move you to an available spot, you will be placed on the waiting list and forfeit your 30 percent non-refundable deposit. You may not reschedule less than two weeks before your session.
If you must cancel, you will forfeit all fees that have been paid. Groups that do not call to cancel and do not show up for their session will forfeit all fees paid and will not be allowed to register for Live from the Heart for one year.
What can I do if I can't reserve a session?
We offer a Live from the Heart classroom kit with a non-live version of the program that enables teachers to facilitate the program on their own in their classrooms. The Live from the Heart classroom kit costs $150. It comes with the Live from the Heart video, 30 student workbooks (English) and a teacher facilitation guide. Materials are also available digitally in Spanish.
The surgical team at Advocate Christ Medical Center has determined that it is safe to broadcast the open-heart surgery. The dedicated team of professionals at Advocate would never put a patient's health at risk.
Yes, the patient knows that his or her surgery will be broadcast. Each patient discussed Live from the Heart with the surgical team at Advocate before agreeing to participate in the program.
We don't expect any problems, but the surgical team is prepared to disconnect the live feed if something does go wrong. In that case, the Museum educators will present a different version of Live from the Heart, which we know you will enjoy.
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