In 1975, before computer-generated science experiments and supreme court-backed conscientious-objecting 5th-graders, I dissected a frog. My health teacher divided the class into groups of threes, gave us each a frog pinned to a waxy black board and a scalpel, and away we went into the world of amphibian innards.We sliced and sectioned, then diced each organ into thirds. We taped each third of a part onto a sheet of manila paper and labeled it underneath.
In spite of my impending ethically-charged vegetarianism, I was proud of my work. I took it home, showed it to my mom, and propped it up on a shelf in my bedroom.
Predictably, and despite its formaldehyde marinade, my one-third of a frog began to smell bad. Remarkably, I never picked up on the scent. Finally, my mother started to notice a foul odor emanating from my room and asked me what it could be. And I had no idea; by that time I had forgotten all about the dead frog poster - it had become just another knick-knack on my shelf.
Is that weird, or what?
3 comments:
When I dissected cadavers at U of M we didn't get to take them home.
We did a cat In high school and as the teacher was showing us how the lungs worked by blowing on a glass tube stuffed down it's throat, the lungs burst, spraying everyone with juice.
Was cool.
To answer your question... Yes, I thought it was weird. However, after reading comments about cats and cadavers, I thought... "Hmm, not that weird after all."
My frog dissecting story... So the teacher/school did not provide one. You had to go out and find your own frog for class. It was a nightmare to hunt frogs.
Once in class I remember having to stick a thick needle in the back of its head to separate the brain from the body without killing it, so we could see the lungs and heart still at work once we opened it. Oh, and then we cut the heart out and threw it on some saline solution, and then counted how many times it could beat out of the body. Ahhh, the sweet memories of biology class.
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