A science class demonstration in Florida probably saved the life of a fifth-grade student, school officials said.

The 10-year-old student, Tashawn Roberts, was feeling for the pulse in his neck -- as all the students were following teacher Michelle Digman's explanation of the human circulatory system -- when he felt a large lump.

Unable to feel his pulse, he spoke up to his Pinellas Park Elementary teacher.

"Miss Digman," he said, "I found a lump."

Tashawn was later rushed to a local hospital for surgery to deal with an aneurysm the size of a golf ball in his neck that, had it remained undetected, might have burst, leading to brain damage or even death.

Aneurysms are balloon-like bulges in an artery caused by the pressure of the blood flowing within, pushing on an area that has been weakened by medical problems or genetic conditions.

A rupture and subsequent bleeding inside the body can be fatal.

Both Tashawn and his teacher were new to the school, where lessons on the body's circulatory system are usually given later on in the school term.

That could have proved too late for Tashawn, but the school district had put a new curriculum in place to better align science lessons with reading and math.

That's why Digman was having her students feel for their pulse, first on their wrists then their necks, early in the school year.

Digman wasn't even supposed to be teaching at the school. She was only there because the school had recently been classified an F school based on the percentage of students failing state reading and math tests.

This led to a shake-up in the faculty, and Digman, who had been teaching at a high school but wanted to teach at the elementary level, was one of the new teachers hired.

Tashawn was also new to the school and caught the teacher's attention.

"This kid is so smart and outgoing and with it, just very talented," she recalled.

Digman kept in touch with Tashawn's mother regarding the boy's performance in class, and when he came home to tell his mother about the lump he had discovered on his neck, she rushed him to an emergency room, where doctors repaired the aneurysm with a vein taken from his leg.

After a two-week recovery, Tashawn was back in class, pleased to be so close to the teacher who helped save his life.

As for Digman, she says, "I found my purpose. I was meant to be here."