A Fascinating Dissection of A Frog

     WOW!!!!! The dissection process which was experienced in Science class on the days of Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14 can be described in two ways:

1. Fascinating Connections
2. A Learning Experience

     During this two day lab, students were given an oppurtunity to dissect the dead body of a frog. These frogs which were dissected in the class were one of the many species of frogs and they maintained a green color. For diversity, both male frogs and female frogs were dissected. Now, the purpose of this lab was not to open the body parts of the frog for the sake of it, but to understand how organisms share similar connections throughout the body. They did indeed share similar body parts with the body of the human.

                                                                                           

Source to Picture #1(above)(right): http://www.scientificillustrator.com/illustration/amphibians/leopard_frog.html

 The picture above is to represent a typical frog. NOTICE: The page cited shows information about a certain frog species which does not serve any purpose to the main idea of the frog dissection.

Tuesday, December 13,2011:

     Day 1 - THE DISSECTION - Students gathered in multiple groups to examine and dissect an individual frog designated to each group.To start off with, each frog was placed on a dissecting pan to prepare for the dissection. The beginning portion of the dissection involved cutting through the skin of the frog in order to get a clear view of important body parts of the organism.Once skin was pinned down to the pan, muscle appeared, but to many groups, it just looked like more skin. Once the first few incisions were made, body parts of the frog's digestive system were visible. This included the stomach, three-part liver, small intestine, large intestine, pancreas, and gallbladder. When the groups saw those gallbladders, they observed that they looked like "deflated peas." This added lots of humor to the lab.

Source: http://www.biologyjunction.com/frog_dissection.htm

This page talks about the digestion system of a frog.




(continued....)As the students cut through the skin of the upper portion of the body, the heart, the lungs, and the esophagus became visible. If the students looked closely, they could see the arteries and the spleen. On the other hand, most of the frogs were females so students were able to identify the ovaries filled with eggs. The eggs were represented with black spheres. Basically, Day 1 of the frog dissection was represented by this:(below)

(Left)Male Frog(dissected)

Source:
http://www.biologyjunction.com/frog_dissection.htm

-------------------------------------------------

(and)

(Right)-Female Frog(dissected)- The eggs are the black spheres....

Source:http://www.altoona.psu.edu/academics/www/mns/bioal/Frog/femaleanat.htmThe cited page above talks about the interior anatomy of a dissected female frog.

Student Reactions to DAY 1:

Based on the observations of Group #1: To start off with, the smell of the frog was really strong. This affected how the people of the group were going to dissect.

EXTERIOR: It was discovered that the dorsal side of the frog was smooth and was full of spots. The feel of both the ventral and dorsal sides of the frog were both solid. When pinning down the arms of the frog, the students could feel the strong hands of the frog.

INTERIOR: On the inside, the digestion system was discovered. The students of the group seemed fascinated by the body parts. The body parts were easily identified by this group, even though many other groups were having trouble matching organs to the ones from the diagrams given by the teacher. Additionally, the students were encountered with so-called "fat bodies." These miniscule structures appeared as spaghetti-like material and they represented the fat inside the body. "Wow, those fat bodies really did look like parts of spaghetti." Also, when the frog was first cut open, a liquid started to roam around through the frog and the group was unsure of what it was. The juice gushing through the frog really bugged this specific group. The heart was found above the three-part liver and it was seen in the shape of a triangle. Group #1 had trouble identifying the heart because they assumed it to be red because of blood, but however it was a white color. Right behind this organ, the lungs appeared squashed and simply disgusting. Despite the few surprising organs and substances found in the frog, the group found the systems of the frog really intriguing. They believed it was a "learning experience."

Wednesday, December 14, 2011:

     Day 2 - Summary and Connections to Human Body - Students gathered once again in their designated groups with their designated frog. Today, the groups were to cut out each individual part of the frog. They would think about the similarites between the frog and the human body.

 

Human Digestive System                                                                                                 
Source:http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/anatomy/digestive/)  

This page talks about the human digestion process.                          
Frog Digestive System
 Source: http://www.tutorvista.com/biology/frog-digestive-system-diagram
  (This website talks about the anatomy of the frog digestive system..)       

   (Cloaca is the opening for urinary and reproductive tracts)
                                                                                   

Similarities:

• The digestive system of both the human body and the frog body have the same parts and functions.
• In the circulatory system for both the frog and human, there is a heart which has included a right atrium and a left atrium.
• For reproduction, both human females and frog females involve eggs.
• Both animals have fat bodies which are broken down by enzymes.
• Both animals have similar exterior parts. For example, hands, legs, a mouth, a tongue, etc...

Therefore, this lab showed a lot about how body systems of different creatures are related. It was indeed amazing to discover new things inside the frog and every student learned from the experience. This frog dissection definitely helped me learn about the frog and how the functions of the frog are related to the functions of other organisms.

More Multimedia: Virtual Lab- (To Help You Get A Better Understanding About The Frog Dissection)http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs/BL_16/BL_16.html

(explains dissection of frog)(steps)
http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/Frog2/Dissection/Setup/setup1.html

A Frog Dissection Game:AWESOME!!!! - http://www.surgery-games.org/43/Dissect-a-Frog.html


Froggy Animation