My Thoughts
As a new teacher I wasn't sure what I'd feel about performing dissections in my classroom. I personally have strong views against the dissection of animals and find it difficult to cope with the idea of innocent lives being taken away for the purpose of science. I often feel that students simply enjoy "cutting things up" and do not take the time to understand the purpose of what they are doing. I can remember dissecting a few things as a middle school student such as cow eyes, earth worms, and sheep hearts. If you had asked me then what i learned about cow eyes, I would've told you it was full of jelly. If you had asked me what I learned from cutting open a sheep heart, I probably couldn't have told you anything. All I knew was that dissections got us out of the regular classroom routine and were a whole lot of fun.
As I began my years as a biology major, dissections began to take on a whole new meaning. At this point, my hatred toward dissection and my passion for the ethical treatment of animals was extremely high. I remembered the way things went in middle school: you use cool tools, you cut things up, you look at them, and you throw them away. I couldn't stand the thought of animals dying so uselessly. However, college was a whole different story. Weeks were spent learning about the animals, their body systems, functions, organs, bones, even their veins. There were countless days of memorizing procedures and body parts before even seeing the animal we would be cutting open. When the day of dissection finally came, we knew the names of all of the parts we were looking at once the animal was opened up. The dissection also did not end when that class period ended, weeks were spent identifying ALL of the internal parts of the animal. There were even tests called "practicals" in which we would be asked to identify a number of internal organs, veins and muscles of the organism.
Finally, after a few good professors made the connections, I understood why dissections can be beneficial. So there is actually a reason to dissect a cow eye? Of course. It is because a cow's eye contains the same parts as a human eye. Looking at a cow eye is an excellent way to study and learn how the human eye is structured and how it functions. Did you know a sheep's heart is actually very similar in structure to a human heart? In 8th grade, I didn't either. As a high school and college student, I had learned about the four chambers of the human heart and since I remembered seeing the structure of a sheep's heart my understanding of the human heart was enhanced.
I went into teaching with the idea that i would not allow a number of animals to be killed and chopped up into pieces by my students. Upon beginning my internship here at Newark Boys Chorus School, I quickly needed to change my way of thinking. I had no idea that so many students would have such an interest and desire to perform dissections. As a teacher, I strive to use my students' own interests to create meaningful class sessions. For this reason, I have been able to accept the idea of performing dissections in the classroom. However, this does not come with out a price to you, students.
There are a few conditions that must be met before I will allow dissections to be performed in my classroom:
1. Every student must complete a virtual dissection and be familiar with the techniques used in dissection
2. Every student must show proper use of the dissection tools and sign off on the list of safety precautions
3. The dissections will only be performed after adequate research of the animals life cycle, body systems, and anatomy has been completed
4. Students must show knowledge of the organs and will be tested on the anatomy of the frog after the dissection has been performed
5. Throughout the dissection session, students will be asked to identify external and internal structures and will be graded on the
accuracy of their responses
If these conditions are met, I will know that I am not responsible for a number of organisms dying in vain. I would expect that students would leave my class with a deeper understanding of the body systems of animals and would also be able to make the connection between the anatomy of the dissection specimen and their own anatomy. Most importantly, by performing these dissections now, you may discover even more about yourself. You may find that you have a passion for studying anatomy, perhaps a future doctor, nurse or physical therapist is in the room? You may find that you have a passion for learning about animals and want to become a veterinarian. Maybe you will become interested in being a science major (I can tell you from experience, biology majors get to dissect very often). Perhaps you will hate this experience and learn that science is definitely not your thing and will stay far away from it in the future. No matter what the case, this experience should mean something to you. I can promise you something: if you meet all of the conditions stated above you will be very well prepared for high school laboratory sessions and maybe even be more advanced than your future classmates. I want you all to go on to be successful and only hope that you all are aiming for success for yourselves.
As I began my years as a biology major, dissections began to take on a whole new meaning. At this point, my hatred toward dissection and my passion for the ethical treatment of animals was extremely high. I remembered the way things went in middle school: you use cool tools, you cut things up, you look at them, and you throw them away. I couldn't stand the thought of animals dying so uselessly. However, college was a whole different story. Weeks were spent learning about the animals, their body systems, functions, organs, bones, even their veins. There were countless days of memorizing procedures and body parts before even seeing the animal we would be cutting open. When the day of dissection finally came, we knew the names of all of the parts we were looking at once the animal was opened up. The dissection also did not end when that class period ended, weeks were spent identifying ALL of the internal parts of the animal. There were even tests called "practicals" in which we would be asked to identify a number of internal organs, veins and muscles of the organism.
Finally, after a few good professors made the connections, I understood why dissections can be beneficial. So there is actually a reason to dissect a cow eye? Of course. It is because a cow's eye contains the same parts as a human eye. Looking at a cow eye is an excellent way to study and learn how the human eye is structured and how it functions. Did you know a sheep's heart is actually very similar in structure to a human heart? In 8th grade, I didn't either. As a high school and college student, I had learned about the four chambers of the human heart and since I remembered seeing the structure of a sheep's heart my understanding of the human heart was enhanced.
I went into teaching with the idea that i would not allow a number of animals to be killed and chopped up into pieces by my students. Upon beginning my internship here at Newark Boys Chorus School, I quickly needed to change my way of thinking. I had no idea that so many students would have such an interest and desire to perform dissections. As a teacher, I strive to use my students' own interests to create meaningful class sessions. For this reason, I have been able to accept the idea of performing dissections in the classroom. However, this does not come with out a price to you, students.
There are a few conditions that must be met before I will allow dissections to be performed in my classroom:
1. Every student must complete a virtual dissection and be familiar with the techniques used in dissection
2. Every student must show proper use of the dissection tools and sign off on the list of safety precautions
3. The dissections will only be performed after adequate research of the animals life cycle, body systems, and anatomy has been completed
4. Students must show knowledge of the organs and will be tested on the anatomy of the frog after the dissection has been performed
5. Throughout the dissection session, students will be asked to identify external and internal structures and will be graded on the
accuracy of their responses
If these conditions are met, I will know that I am not responsible for a number of organisms dying in vain. I would expect that students would leave my class with a deeper understanding of the body systems of animals and would also be able to make the connection between the anatomy of the dissection specimen and their own anatomy. Most importantly, by performing these dissections now, you may discover even more about yourself. You may find that you have a passion for studying anatomy, perhaps a future doctor, nurse or physical therapist is in the room? You may find that you have a passion for learning about animals and want to become a veterinarian. Maybe you will become interested in being a science major (I can tell you from experience, biology majors get to dissect very often). Perhaps you will hate this experience and learn that science is definitely not your thing and will stay far away from it in the future. No matter what the case, this experience should mean something to you. I can promise you something: if you meet all of the conditions stated above you will be very well prepared for high school laboratory sessions and maybe even be more advanced than your future classmates. I want you all to go on to be successful and only hope that you all are aiming for success for yourselves.