Ronquillo, Mon Carlo L.

G210 – RES03

Narrative Report: Frog Dissection

In dissection, its sole purpose is to learn the composition of the species to be dissected. In

this activity, the students dissected an animal belonged to the amphibians’ class- frog. In dissecting

a frog, it educated the students how to properly and carefully pin down different body of the frog

and the proper way to cut the different layer of skin of the frog ensuring that it should not damage

any internal organ of it. It also taught the students to discreetly take out the organs and revealed

the different organs present inside the frog. Although, many differences are present between

humans and frog, the internal organ is similar in such a way. The main purpose of this activity is

for the students to learn the composition of frog and to examine the relationship between the

internal organs present in the human body and frog. Lastly, to give a real-like image of the organs

inside the frog.

The activity was performed on February 19, 2018 at N401; 3:00 – 4:30 pm. First, the

instructor strictly checked if the primary safety equipment (laboratory gown, gloves, face mask

and goggles) of the students is worn. It is done because blood spill by doing the dissection may go

to the hand or body of the students if the safety equipment is not worn. The students collected the

dissecting kit and frog from the instructor and go to their designated work place. The students put

the frog into a jar and put alcohol inside to get the frog unconscious. Then when the frog is

paralyzed or blacked out, it is pinned properly into the dissecting pan.

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 The first part of the dissection is the external anatomy. Here includes the determination of

the eyes, eardrum, nostrils, digits which are like fingers and here also the students determined if

the frog dissected is male or female. To do so, the students put the frog right side up for the face

to clearly seen. The students easily located the eyes and the eardrums which is near the eye. The

students also find out the sex of the frog dissected was female due to looking at the innermost

finger of the forelimb. The frog the students have doesn’t have a large patched pad and that is why

it is concluded that it is a female.

The second part is the part of the mouth. In opening the mouth, the students have a hard

time opening it due to over filling of alcohol that lead to extreme unconsciousness. To determine

the parts present, the students use the scissor inside the dissecting kit to cut the corner of the mouth

where the students see the upper jaw and the lower jaw of the frog joined together. The students

don’t find the tongue of the frog; however, the frog’s glottis is located. It’s a white soft cartilage

that the students compared it to a breast of a chicken. Lastly, the esophagus is determined at the

inner part of the mouth.

The third part of the dissection is the internal anatomy. Here the main objective is to

separate the skin from the muscle layer of the frog. To do so, the students lifted the skin between

the rear legs using the forceps to make a small cut using the scalpel. This is done for when the

students use scissors to continue the incision, it can continue up to the frog’s neck. But to reveal

all the organs present, the students horizontally cut the skin between the front legs and the rear

legs and when its done the flaps of the skin is picked up and then pinned using the needles inside

the dissecting kit.

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 Before the internal organs is revealed, another layer consisting of muscles and bones of the

frog was incised. The procedure is the same in incising the skin of the frog. However, in this part,

the students are extremely careful in cutting through the muscle layer because the muscle is thin,

that it may damage the internal organs of the frog when cut deeply that may cause blood spillage.

With the same procedure, the students pinned the muscle flaps as far it can be stretched for them

to easily detect the organs present.

Lastly, the students examine the frog’s anatomy. The organs were pulled out one by one

and put it beside the frog in the dissecting tray. To do so, the students divided it into four layers

beginning with the liver and the heart. First, the students pulled out the liver which is located by

the students because of its size and brownish color. Second organ that was pulled out was the heart.

The students see that it was in triangular shaped and it is located just above the liver. After these

two organs was pulled out, the gall bladder was seen and was pulled out. It is identified to be a

small sac which is dark pink in color. Next one that is been pulled out is the stomach, which is a

big sac like a macaroni shape. Next the students pulled out the small intestine which is a long-

folded tubular in shape organ that is examined to be in rear of the stomach. Next organ was the

lungs and pancreas, which the students find it hard to be determined because of its size and its

similarity with the gall bladder. The pancreas was located after the stomach and small intestine

was pulled because it was in the middle of the two organs.

The students frog as mentioned was mentioned is female. And to reveal the last layer which

the kidneys is located, the ovaries was pulled out. The ovary of the frog looks like sac filled with

black specimens or eggs. And lastly, the kidney was pulled out and was identified by the students

as long brownish colored organ. After all the organs determined, the organs that was pulled out

was put into the jar along the dissected frog for it to be buried properly. For the burial, the students

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buried it 0.6 meters or equivalent to 2 rulers below the ground in the students’ backyard - 7:00 pm

the night of February 19, 2018 to avoid contamination.

Overall, the students determined the organs present inside the frog and it is reviewed to be

the same in structure with some of the internal organs of the human body. There is no error

encountered during the dissection and it was performed uncomplicatedly. For the student, he

learned to properly dissected a frog. Compared to its experience in his school in Junior high school,

the instructions were not clear, and many errors encountered like blood spillage due to cutting

deeply in the muscle through the organs. For one of the students’ groupmates who will take

medical related course, this activity also stands as a challenge if you can handle performing

activities like this.