Dissection

We recently dissected a rat in science class. We skinned it, then identified some of his muscles and after we identified some of his organs. It took us several school days including one day for skinning, one day for identifying muscles, one day for identifying organs and then two days for making a google site. The google site had to include pictures of all of the rat’s muscles, all of the rat’s organs and three common diseases for every organ (in humans), and finally it had to include some history.

I personally did not like the concept of dissecting an animal, and the first day was very difficult for many people to stomach seeing the rats. Some reasons against dissecting rats would be that it could be bad for the environment. Depending on how the teachers acquire the animals it could be inhumane. Another con is that it is just for the students, medical studies do not benefit from the animal dissections.

Some reasons for dissecting the animals would be that it does teach students about the organs and location of them. I did learn about the human body because it is similar to how the rat was. Another reason that some people are for dissecting animals is that it can encourage some students to pursue a career in science. The rat dissection also is a productive use for the dead animals.

Personally I see both sides for dissecting and against dissecting animals. I'm also glad that we dissected rats instead of other animals. I have heard some people talk about how when they were in school they dissected a cat and some people have also dissected frogs.

What do you think the best animal to dissect is?
Did the rat dissection (if you have done it) bother you or your stomach?

Source https://www.britannica.com/story/pro-and-con-animal-dissection 

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  • Love this topic and super job Erin!! 

  • In my personal opinion, I do not think that there is a perfect or "best animal" to dissect. I think that the dissect of any animal, when done correctly, is extremely beneficial for students that are learning about organic life. I dissected the rat last year and do not remember if the dissection bothered my stomach.

  • I think that dissections are fun and filled with tons of information. We were told that the rat is very similar to the human body. So, I thought it was a great experience to see how our body might look like from the inside with our own eyes. Very cool!

  • I think that the rats were a good thing to dissect, a lot of testing is done on rats because in reality rats are invasive species. They aren't an animal loved by a lot of people such as pigs, rabbits, etc. So it wasn't really "sad" to preform the dissection on them. And it didn't really bother my stomach, I think a lot of students were being dramatic about that in my opinion. 

    • While some students might have been being dermatic I know that there were some that got sick from the rats, and personally I know that I would not have eaten anything if it was closer to lunch than it was because it did bother me. Also while I do not love rats I still found it sad for them to be dead and for us to have to touch their dead bodys and have to hear the sounds of the cutting into them and the sound that was made when the teacher broke my rat's arm even though he was dead.

  • I personally think the best animal for dissection could be either a rat or a frog because if you disect an animal it better not be an animal some people own as pets. I have not disected anything before but I don't think that it would bother me too much for the sole reason that I don't get the uneasy/sick feeling a lot.

  • I don’t have a certain animal that I think would be interesting to dissect, but something bigger might have been easier than the rat. Personally, watching the rat as it was cut open did not bother me and I thought it was interesting. But, I did not want to do any of the dissecting myself as that would gross me out.

  • I don't think that there is one certain animal to dissect and it be the best. I think whatever animal is chosen people are still going to say its wrong. I personally enjoyed the dissection and thought it was really cool, but I know some students thought it was very gross and could not handle it.

    • I agree with most of what you said. There is no best and no matter what people could argue that there is a better animal. The part I disagree with is that the dissection was cool and enjoyable. Part of that was the smell for me and whenever the teacher was near it he said ours had the worst smell of all the ones he has helped with, so that might have been part of the problem.

  • I personally don't think that there is a "best animal" to dissect in biology, but I think choosing a rat is a good option. The rat dissection did bother me, but I think it was a good way to learn how things work. I don't think dissecting rats for the study is inhumane because if anything there is an overpopulation of rats, and we are using them for a leaning experience. 

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