It may seem like one of those standard middle school science class experiences, but to hear Marion County Middle School science teacher Mike Carey explain it, dissecting a frog doesn’t necessarily happen all that often.
“Based on my experience in purchasing everything needed, it’s probably not very common anymore,” Carey said. “Everyone’s budgets are tighter.”
Fortunately for MCMS 8th graders, Carey applied for and received a grant through the Marion County Education Foundation to purchase 27 bullfrogs for a dissection lab.
“I am beyond grateful [for the grant],” Carey said. “This is the second time I’ve been lucky enough to receive a grant from them. I’ll always apply every year [...] It is the easiest classroom resource I’ve ever received.”
Earlier this semester, every 8th grader at MCMS got that experience; Carey even had left over frogs for students who were absent on the scheduled dissection day.
Working in small groups, students slowly (sometimes with a bit of trepidation) dissected the frogs at their tables and began identifying the body systems they were studying in that unit.
“I think it went really well,” Carey said, adding that while the actual dissection doesn’t necessarily fit into the 8th grade curriculum, he’s found a way to align the experience with their standards. “We’re in a unit now where we talk about heredity, and natural selection, and traits. We focus on the traits that the frogs have and that they may have inherited over millions of years and that segues into what we’re doing in class.”
The dissection lab was so popular that fellow science teacher Regan Orgeron brought his class in to observe. Mr. Orgeron’s students zig-zagged their way through the room looking over the shoulders of students who were busy opening up the frogs. And while the classroom was especially full of students, the dissections proceeded without interruption, underscoring another important aspect of the hands-on experience.
“You don’t have behavior issues on dissection days,” Carey said with a laugh. “It is 100% engagement to the max. It’s just fun watching kids get excited about what they’re doing.”
This isn’t the first time Carey has organized a dissection lab. Last year, his students dissected small sharks which the school purchased. But whether the resources come from the school or the education foundation, Carey says that being able to find a way to make these types of projects a reality is a hallmark of the school district.
“That’s one of the things I really like about Marion County. Last year we found the money to do this; next year we’re going to hopefully find the money to do this again.” Although he wouldn’t necessarily call it a rite of passage, Carey said he wants all of his students to try their hand at dissection before moving on to high school. “I really want them to have that experience.”
However, it seems unlikely that his students will dissect sharks again anytime soon.
“The wild man in me would love to do something different every year, but frogs are the best. Honestly, I’ll never go back to sharks,” Carey said. “That was more about the shock value of dissecting sharks, but it was underwhelming in terms of the organ systems and stuff like that.”
What wasn’t underwhelming, however, was the smell associated with the sharks.
“It was unbelievable how much less the frogs smell than the sharks,” he added with a laugh.
Beyond the educational value of dissection, Carey said he hopes the experience is a memorable part of his students’ time in middle school.
“I hope this is one of those keystone experiences. In other words, they may forget everything else they did in middle school science, but hopefully when they’re fifty they’ll remember this. This is one of those things that their parents remember doing in school. No one reflects back on the time they learned about the periodic table.
“We’re doing big things in Marion County and it’s fun to see these kids that are really excited about science. I can’t wait until they get to high school and start going all science up there too. This is an exciting group heading to the high school.”
