Get that uneasy feeling cutting open an amphibian? Now there is an alternative.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, is offering alternatives to the dissecting of frogs. Every year freshmen around the country dissect frogs as a part of the biology curriculum. Students have the choice of participating in the dissection or doing it online.
“When I hear Biology I think of dissections. It stinks that we don’t get to do it this year,” freshman Tyler Svoboda said. “I think it would be a lot of fun, it’s the fun way of learning.”
V-Frog is the world’s first virtual reality-based frog dissection software. Using a simple mouse and basic personal computer, a student can pick up a scalpel, cut and open the skin of the frog, and dissect it just like he or she would with a physical frog.
“When someone refuses to participate in the lab, I first ask why, and then if they give me a legitimate reason, their alternative will be to write and research a paper,” Biology Teacher Steve Abrams said. “They miss out on the physical aspect of the lab but they learn the same material.”
Online learning also saves the school money. According sargentwelch.com, a package of 10 preserved frogs costs around $100. By purchasing the online alternative software for $2.99-$4.99 each, the school saves over half of the money they would spend buying the real deal.
Wylie East does not offer the alternative online dissection, however students have the option to do a research project instead.
“If a student does not have a legitimate excuse to not dissect, then they will have to do it,” Abrams said.
The software includes 3-D organ views and information, voiceovers for instruction and reading dissection tools like pins, marker, scissors, scalpel; and forceps; detailed labels, information on frog classification, lifecycle, organ functions and anatomical comparison of human and frog organs.
Dissection frogs are sometimes raised on farms for the purpose of dissection. However, occasionally they are raised in laboratories and can be mistreated.
The app works on iPads, desktops, laptops, netbooks and interactive whiteboards.
