The Science of Growing

Your body does something remarkable every single day — it grows, repairs, and rebuilds itself without you thinking about it for even a second. But how does it actually work? The Science of Growing invites curious students to investigate the biology happening inside their own bodies: how cells communicate to trigger a growth spurt, how food gets converted into longer bones and stronger muscles, and how your body signals what it needs through hunger, fatigue, and more. Led by pediatrician Dr. Tabitha Michaud, this class turns the everyday experience of growing up into a fascinating scientific inquiry — one where you are the subject. Whether you're drawn to biology, interested in health and medicine, or just genuinely curious about why your shoe size changed overnight, this course delivers real answers.

Why Growing Up Is Actually Incredible Biology

Growth feels ordinary because it's constant — but stop and think about it for a moment, and it becomes genuinely strange. How does your body know it's time to add a few inches? How does a single meal turn into new bone or muscle? How do you sleep through a process that's rebuilding you from the inside? The Science of Growing is built around exactly these questions, led by pediatrician Dr. Tabitha Michaud, who brings both scientific expertise and years of experience working with young patients to make the biology of development vivid, concrete, and relevant. This course treats students not as passive recipients of facts, but as investigators — using their own bodies as the most fascinating case study available.

How Your Cells Know What to Do

One of the course's core mysteries is coordination: your body contains trillions of cells, and somehow they all get the message at roughly the right time to grow in the right direction. Students will explore how cells communicate using chemical signals — including hormones like human growth hormone and IGF-1 — and how that signaling triggers growth in specific tissues while leaving others untouched. This unit demystifies why growth spurts happen when they do, why they seem to hit overnight, and why different parts of your body grow on different timelines.

From Food to You: The Science of Building a Body

Every inch of height, every new tooth, every added pound of muscle had to come from somewhere — and that somewhere is your diet. Students will follow the journey of nutrients from the plate to the cell, learning how the body breaks down food and redirects its components to build new tissue. Bone growth, muscle development, and even the replacement of baby teeth all require specific raw materials, and this section of the course makes those biochemical pathways tangible. Students come away with a genuine understanding of why nutrition isn't just about energy — it's about having the right building blocks available when your body needs them.

Reading Your Body's Signals

Your body doesn't grow silently — it tells you what it needs through hunger, soreness, fatigue, and sleep pressure. Dr. Michaud guides students through interpreting these signals as biological feedback: what's actually happening physiologically when you feel a muscle ache after a workout, why teenagers need more sleep than adults, and what happens at the cellular level when your body is in repair mode. This unit is practical as well as scientific — students finish with a clearer sense of how to respond to their body's cues in ways that support healthy development.

What You'll Walk Away With

By the end of The Science of Growing, students won't just know more biology — they'll see their own bodies differently. The course builds a coherent picture of human development that connects cell biology, endocrinology, nutrition, and physiology into a single, understandable story. For students interested in medicine, health sciences, or biology, it's an early and engaging look at how these fields intersect in real life. And for any student who has ever wondered why their body works the way it does, it delivers something even more valuable: genuine, satisfying answers.