Bull Frog Dissection in Advanced Biology

(The following article was written by CHS Student, Veronica Parish)

This week members of Ms. Moore's Advanced Biology Class participated in a lab dissecting frogs. The students had become familiar with the frogs' anatomy before they began dissecting. However, some of the students became rather jumpy once actual dissection took place. 

In pairs, students were allowed to cut open the ventral side of the frog and identify the frogs organs. Frogs and humans share many homologous structures and similar organ systems. Some students were surprised to find eggs in their apparently female frogs, others were surprised to find that their frog had recently eaten a meal. Two groups found crawfish in their frogs' stomachs, they were very recognizable due to the fact frogs eat their meals whole. 

Personally, I enjoy dissecting because I believe that hands on learning is extremely effective and I find it easier to learn. However, tough-boy TD Stein had a different opinion. "The frog lab was sad, stinky, and disgusting." Jayden Garrett strongly disagreed with TD, " The frog lab was a different approach to learning the anatomy of the frog. I thought it was interesting and beneficial!" 

Ms. Moore has more dissections to complete this semester and her class is looking forward to them.