On Monday, January 15th, the Period 2 Advanced Biology Class started Frog Dissections. Prior to the dissections, our teacher, Mrs. Toth, gave the class a packet based on the frogs we dissected. There were different diagrams with labels we had to fill out in order to identify the body parts of the frog. Once we had the packet completed, we were given dead frogs. The smell was enough to burn your nose hairs off, but what was there to do? The class was divided into groups of approximately 3-4 people. Each group received a dead frog. There were a variety of male and female frogs, so we didn’t know which one we had received without further dissection. Our group predicted that we had gotten a male frog.

To start dissecting the frog we first took scissors and cut the jaw open so we could see the tongue, maxillary teeth, vomerine teeth, the glottis, and eye orbits. Then we had to flip the frog on its back and make an incision through the skin. We then removed the skin to see the numerous blood vessels. It was a gross experience… for some people. 

We came to see that our prediction of the frog being a male was wrong. Noticing all the tiny black eggs, we came to conclusion that the frog was in fact a female. We looked at and studied the other parts of the frog amazed at how all these intricate parts come together to make a once living thing. It’s definitely interesting and one of the things we look forward to in advanced bio the most.