Histological assessment of tissues is a critical component of diagnosing diseases and determining disease severity or stage. In order to fully appreciate tissue pathology, an understanding of healthy tissue layers is required. Students traditionally learn this information by memorizing different layers within healthy tissue. This is often a daunting task if not placed into a meaningful real-world context. Described here is a hands-on inquiry-based laboratory where students make a diagnosis based on their knowledge of tissue layers. Students are provided readily available preserved tissue from two patients. Students are unaware that one patient is normal while the other has bladder cancer. Students stain the tissues using a common histological technique and are responsible for providing a bladder cancer diagnosis with corresponding cancer stage. This activity not only provides real-world technical experience, but since cancer staging is determined by the tissue layers the tumor has infiltrated, it also reinforces the importance of knowing different tissue layers. Following their diagnosis, pathology reports are assembled using images from either a microscope or cell phone. Students then compare these results with professional pathology reports accompanying the tissue. This activity is well suited for health sciences, cancer biology, histology, or pathology classes.