Fireflydreams21: Frog Dissection Lab

Photo From: http://dnr.wi.gov/eek/critter/amphibian/leopard.htm

Over a course of two days, our class completed a frog dissection lab. The purpose of this lab was to have a better understanding of the organs and parts of the frog, the functions of those organs and parts, and how they connect with us. On the first day, we focused on cutting open the frog, taking out the fat bodies, and taking out the eggs and oviducts if the frog was female. I was surprised how strong the skin of the frog was. I had expected it to cut open easily, but it actually took our group a few tries to finally cut it. After the skin, was a layer of muscle, which actually seemed easier to cut, but that may have been because our group was used to cutting by then. The first thing I noticed after the frog was cut open, was the eggs. There were black spherical eggs everywhere in the frog. This told us that we had a female. Taking out the eggs required patience and perserverance. As soon as you thought you had finished taking out all of the eggs, you'd find more. It almost seemed never ending. I envied the groups that had male frogs and didn't need to clean out all the eggs. Eventually, we focused on clearing out the fat bodies and oviducts. There were still a few eggs scattered around, but we still had visibility of the organs and parts. That was the end of day one.

Picture From: http://www.realfishbaitcompany.com/products/

On day two, we focused on identifying the parts of the frog, which we had named Kermit, and the functions of those parts. For me, the pancreas and kidney were the hardest to tell apart. They seem so similar, although they have different functions. What surprised me the most was how small the lung seemed to be. After all, the lungs hold oxygen. It's hard to imagine it expanding into anything large enough to hold oxygen for a frog. In addition, I thought the gall bladder would be bigger. The liver, which produces bile, is the largest structure in the body cavity, but the gall bladder, which stores the bile, is about the size of a pea. This dissection also caused me to realize that the parts of the frog are more complex than the worms, and similar to ours (such as the digestive system). Overall, this frog dissection lab was very interesting, as well as surprising, and gave me a better understanding of the frog parts and functions, and how they connect with us.