The Frog

Skeletal System• Notice the names of the leg bones.

– Same as ours!

• We will be looking at the bones as time permits at the end of the dissection.

• You do not want to cut through unnecessary bones, so BE CAREFUL!

Main Organs• Liver

• Kidneys

• Eyes

• Brain

• Lungs

• Heart• Write them down and where each is located!

Digestive System• Eyes…… Why the eyes??

• Brain

• Stomach

• Small Intestine

• Large Intestine

Nervous System• Eyes

• Brain

• Nerves

Things to look for• You may notice;

– Parasites– Worms– Partially digested food– Missing digits, wound or defect– Females may be full of eggs– Male vs. Female differences

• What are they? Discuss

Why Dissection is Important

• Pictures of frog dissection cannot replace a real life experience. A hands-on lab allows a student to understand the true positioning and feel for organs that just can’t be expressed in the flat format of a book or computer monitor.

Students learn Respect for Life

• Any specimen lab, whether it is a fetal pig dissection, or an earthworm dissection, teaches respect for life.

• Unnecessary damage to a preserved specimen is never allowed even though the animal has already been humanely euthanized.

• We’ve discussed ethics in science.

Skills that are Life Long• They learn proper dissection skills

that will be helpful in higher level lab classes.

• Learning the proper procedure for frog dissection teaches following directions, observation skills, fine motor skills, the interrelationship between organs and tissue.

And Remember…

The photo above was taken at the edge of a pond in Tucson, AZ. Evidently, the Bullfrogs hide underneath the green scum on the pond and ambush birds. Note that its front legs are gripping the bird and forcing it down - somewhat similar to the cartoon. It takes a couple of hours for the frog to swallow the bird.