Grade 8 Science Lab

         Right after lunch, I walked with dread into the Science Lab. Frog dissection day!  The mere thought of it had me questioning exactly which direction the cafeteria food was going to take and I swallowed nervously.  Susie, my lab partner, had already arrived and I slid into my seat next to her.

         "You ready?" I asked Susie but she merely shook her head in reply and groaned.

         The teacher droned on with instructions outlining the assignment and how the class was going to proceed. I gingerly approached the cart to claim my frog and was one of the last students back in the seat. The smell of formaldehyde assaulted my nose as I pinned the dead frog the to the dissecting tray. We were ready to begin!

         "You can cut it open," I offered.

         "No, you are doing great," Susie countered.

         "It is your turn," I argued.

         "It is not going to happen," she insisted.

         Arguing was not going to get us anywhere and certainly not an A.  Neither of us wanted to make that first incision. What if it wasn't really dead and it moved? The act of cutting the frog made it so real, so final, so dead.

          Grasping the scalpel in my hand, I took a deep breath and cut into the flesh. I pulled back the skin and exposed the inner organs. Ugh! Vacillating between curiosity and being extremely grossed out, we examined and identified the various organs and dutifully drew and labeled the diagram.  I drew the heart too big.  Erase.  The intestines are not quite right. Erase. Try again. Finally it seemed to be somewhat accurate. Next part of the assignment involved examining the stomach contents. I cut the stomach from the surrounding tissue and split it open. The interior contained the remains of a bug. No surprise there!

         Eventually the squeamishness of the task evaporated as we became desensitized to the process.  With the formal assignment completed, the students in the class, including my partner and myself, began cutting and examining all the organs. When some boys started removing eyeballs and throwing them around the classroom, the science teacher yelled for everyone to stop. We were done.

          Poor froggies.  I think they deserved a better end.