Body World's 3

Rooster and I went to see Body World's 3 on Saturday and it was really an amazing experience.  The exhibit uses donated bodies that have been preserved using Plastination, which stops decomposition and preserves the body.  There has been some controversy in our area about the exhibit.  Some letters to the editor have said that they thought it was degrading to the people who's bodies were used in the exhibit.  I have to say I think it was done well.  The identity of the bodies is never given and I'm not sure that a person would be able to recognize a body if they knew them.  The bodies were also donated by the person themselves when they were alive.  

I'm making this sound a little morbid and it really wasn't.  We were able to see every part of the body (right down to veins, arteries and capillaries) and learn what each part does.  It really is a chance to see and learn about the human body in a way that is so much more informative than reading from a book.

After exiting the exhibit, they have models (i'm not sure if they were actual body parts now that I think about it) that you can touch and see what the plastination feels like.  Rooster was also able to put on gloves and hold an animal heart, an cow eye and something else.  Too much for me and the smell of formaldehyde was overwhelming. 

If you get a chance to see the exhibit, I would highly recommend it, with a few recommendations.

I decided not to take Tater with us because I thought it might be a bit too graphic for him.  I think he would have been okay but I wouldn't recommend taking young children to it.  Keep in mind full bodies are displayed including parts that young children may not be ready to see, even Rooster had hard time understanding why everything had to be seen.

There is a part of the exhibit that displays fetuses.  Although it was interseting to see the different stages of development, this part was difficult for me to look at.  I'm not sure that I would go through this part again if I were to go back.

Plan on spending a few hours.  They recommend 90 minutes.  We were there over 2 hours and kind of rushed through the end of it because it was getting late.