With their eyes wide open and jaws dropped, Two Rivers Community School fourth- and fifth-graders got to see the human body in a whole new way Tuesday in Glenwood Springs.

Thanks to the partnership between the school and Compass Peak Imaging, 24 students toured the West Glenwood facility as part of a class field trip.

It is all part of the problem-based learning, or PBL, platform, titled “You are what you eat” — studying the body system, disease, diet and the connection between the two.

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“It helps transfer what they learn from school, and how it applies in a business and the medical field,” said Ann Rockett Perrin, PBL/ELL coordinator for the K-8 state charter school.

“We hope they learn the real world part of what they are studying,” she said. “And maybe be inspired to become something in the field.”

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One by one, the 9- to 11-year-olds checked out the CT scan machine, MRI room and the X-ray room for an up-close look at medical imaging.

“I enjoy showing them what we do here, and teaching them about technology and healthy choices,” said Stevie Madsen, radiologic technician for Compass Peak Imaging.

“I love that they are studying anatomy. It’s neat to see their faces when they see what real people look like on the inside,” she said.

Full of questions, the students politely raised their hands, asking the basics of what the difference is between a CT scan and an X-ray, to what effect radiation has on the human body.

“They ask some really intelligent questions,” Madsen added. “I’m giving them information that is complicated, and they do a good job of understanding.”

Two more trips with 48 more students will tour the facility this Friday and the following Tuesday.

“Our biggest push is to get the students out in the field as much as possible … just to solidify the learning,” Rockett Perrin added.

kmills@postindependent.com