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Dissections motivate students to question, collaborate, and learn! Creating a curriculum that entices a junior high student to question how their body systems work is an important key to student success. One of the most memorable events in Science is a dissection. Nothing beats the excitement on dissection day when students identify structures of a sheep eye, find the blind spot, or examine the lens that focuses light on the retina. I would like to provide multiple dissection experiences throughout the year. Students will study the cardiovascular, digestive, skeletal and nervous systems and learn how these systems contribute to the organism as a whole. Dissecting a frog creates an authentic experience to bring these lessons together. Students will compare the structures of the frog, worm, squid or mouse (owl pellet) to their organ systems. The frog, like humans, have a tympanic membrane which sparks class discussions about the process of hearing (explained with the ear model). The owl pellet "dissection" ties NGSS standards from ecology (food chain) to the skeletal system. Picking through owl vomit is pretty engaging for a junior high student! The items in my cart are teaching models and labs that are found to be engaging and effective in helping students better understand the standards and their own body systems. The NGSS are taking students to a new level of understanding, but unfortunately, no funding has been set aside to support teachers in purchasing equipment or lab supplies for these new standards.
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