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I'm currently in high school, and the AP Bio classes actually dissected cats before school let out last year. The science wing had a pretty raunchy smell for a couple days.
However, any student is free to opt out and do the same thing on the the computer program. About 1/4 of ever class did so.
Even though I loved my biology classes, I don't think I could have dissected a cat. It was hard enough doing the frog and the worm!
If you go back in time and look at the Da Vinci sketches of the human anatomy there is a very visceral and at the same time beautiful look of them.
I dissected a cat in Anatomy and was not thrilled about it. The teacher explained to us that it was not a mandatory 'hands on' part of the class but she expected people to watch.
She also told us to name our cats and to treat them with dignity and respect, for they were there to teach us and if we looked at them with that kind of honor, we would be able to get thru that part of the course.
Our cat was named Bubbles and to this day, when I see the innards of animal or human, I flip back to that cat and appreciate how and what I was able to to take away from those classes and I can really say that it helped me really
honor and respect a very tough and challenging part of my education.
Had those animals just been killed and dumped or cremated I would have never been able to have come away with the knowledge I have of the human body, muscles and the skeletal structures.
The Amerinds had/have a wonderful ideal when it comes to animals they killed for food and fur.
They would only take the animals they needed and prayed over the bodies and honored their lives, deaths and what they left behind.
I think we can all learn from that ideal.:cool:
A pretty brave young person spoke up & made a impression & a change
for her school.:)
Belzer student leads way to dissection alternative
By John Tuohy
Posted: January 14, 2009 A Lawrence Township 6th grader has persuaded the school district to offer students an alternative to dissecting real frogs in science class.
Belzer Middle School student Kara Hairston won a $2,000 prize for her efforts from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Kara will present half of the award to Assistant Superintendent Duane Hodgin and Principal Ron Davie at a ceremony at Belzer on Thursday.
"She did all the research on alternatives to dissection, presented it to the board of education and blew their socks off," Hodgin said.
Kara will also give the district advanced software that allows students to simulate dissections by computer. The program will be available to all elementary, middle and high school students who want to use it instead of dissecting actual frogs, Hodgin said
Kara discovered that the frogs used in her school's dissections were taken from the wild and she sought other ways for students to learn the same lessons without cutting open the amphibians, according to the PCRM.
"Studies show that non-animal methods teach concepts in biology and anatomy just as well or better than animal dissection," said Jonathan Balcombe, a PCRM biologist, said in a news release.
The presentation will be 9:45 a.m. at Belzer, 7555 E. 56th St.
Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-5526.