Epic Frog Dissection!!

 Wow I actually dissected a frog and I can't believe it! During the past two days we dissected a frog and learned how the frog's organs functions and where they are, what are the organ systems, and how the frog is connected to us. So I got to admit I was pretty scared in the beginning because of the frogs organs, but then when I start to dissect it, I had a tremendous amount of fun. If I were to be able to do it again I would do it. So first lets start what the organs are. The liver: The largest structure of the the body cavity.  This brown colored organ is composed of three parts, or lobes.  The right lobe, the left anterior lobe, and the left posterior lobe.  The liver is not primarily an organ of digestion, it does secrete a digestive juice called bile.  Bile is needed for the proper digestion of fats.Now the Heart:at the top of the liver, the heart is a triangular structure. The left and right atrium can be found at the top of the heart. A single ventricle located at the bottom of the heart. The large vessel extending out from the heart is the conus arteriosis. Lungs: Locate the lungs by looking underneath and behind the heart and liver. They are two spongy organs. The Gall bladder: Lift the lobes of the liver, there will be a small green sac under the liver. The gall bladder, which stores bile(hint: it kind of looks like a booger). Stomach: Curving from underneath the liver is the stomach.  The stomach is the first major site of chemical digestion.  Frogs swallow their meals whole.   Follow the stomach to where it turns into the small intestine.  The pyloric sphincter valve regulates the exit of digested food from the stomach to the small intestine.The Small Intestine:    Leading from the stomach.  The first straight portion of the small intestine is called the duodenum, the curled portion is the ileum.  The ileum is held together by a membrane called the mesentery.  Note the blood vessels running through the mesentery, they will carry absorbed nutrients away from the intestine.  Absorption of digested nutrients occurs in the small intestine. Then comes the Large Intestine:As you follow the small intestine down, it will widen into the large intestine.  The large intestine is also known as the cloaca in the frog.  The cloaca is the last stop before wastes, sperm, or urine exit the frog's body.  (The word "cloaca" means sewer). Then the Spleen:Return to the folds of the mesentery, this dark red spherical object serves as a holding area for blood. Finally the Esophagus: Return to the stomach and follow it upward, where it gets smaller is the beginning of the esophagus.  The esophagus is the tube that leads from the frogs mouth to the stomach.  Open the frogs mouth and find the esophagus, poke your probe into it and see where it leads. 

 Now lets talk about it's systems of the organs. Well you may ask what is the Digestive System? The Digestive System is a complex series of organs and glands that processes food. In order to use the food we eat, our body has to break the food down into smaller molecules that it can process; it also has to excrete waste. The Liver, Gall bladder, Pancreas, Stomach, and Small Intestine are all part of the Digestive System.The circulatory system is an organ system that passes nutrients (such as amino acids, electrolytes and lymph), gases, hormones, blood cells, etc. to and from cells in the body to help fight diseases, stabilize body temperature and pH, and to maintain homeostasis.The Respiratory System is made up of the organs in your body that help you to breathe.The goal of breathing is to deliver oxygen to the body and to take away carbon dioxide. The Lungs and Skin are both parts of the Respiratory System.The Nervous System is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. Now it is time to talk about how the Frog is connected to us the humans.




The Frog is connected to us in many scientific ways! Frogs and humans similarities are that we both have a stomach, small intestine, large intestine, heart, lungs, pancreas, and gall bladder frogs and human  were that we both have a stomach, small intestine, large intestine, heart, lungs, pancreas, and gallbladder. We both have a reproductive system to build our population.We may not be connected on the outside because size and shape but on the inside we are and this is how. We both have a heart that pumps blood and we both have lungs that give our body oxygen. Frog's reproductive organs are on the inside as where humans' are on the outside. Frogs have white hearts and humans have red hearts. You can see a frogs Esophagus through its mouth, but you can't see it from humans. 

In conclusion, I think I had a very fun time and I wish I can do this again. It was a good experience and I learned a lot about the frogs which helped me learn something about myself. I hope we can do this again someday!

Links: http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/frog-dissection.html 

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Stomach Churns Lab

Yesterday we focused on hydrogic acids and egg whites. We experimented with four test tubes which were labeled as A,B,C,D. For A we added 10mL of the enzyme pepsin in the test tube. For B we added 5mL of pepsin and then we rinsed the graduated cylinder and added 5 mL of water to the test tub. For C we used clean graduated cylinder 10mL of hydochloric acid to test the test tube. For D we added 5mL of pepsin and then rinsed the cylinder and then added 5mL of hydrchloric acid to test the test tube. Then we finally waited for the next day to wait for the recation to occur.

Chicken Disection

Just recently in our class we dissected a chicken. I know it might said disgusting because even at one time I thought it was disgusting too. But I learned a lot from this dissection which totally changed my opinion. I learned that there is a big difference between the human body and the animal body and the main difference is that our body is way more complex. One reason how I know that is that when you move an animal's muscle it's body will move.Amazing right! But when we try that with our own bodies that won't happen or that would have made our lives way easier. I happy I did this because know I know this difference between our bodies! 

Diffusion Lab

The purpose of the lab was to help us understand the cell membrane inside and outsides. We also learned a key word called diffusion. It is a making a substance that is like a strong chemical and less concentrated. While this is happening molecules try their best to make more space. For example, if we ask two units to fit in one class room they will feel squeezed and whenever the door opens we will all try to get more room. Same with the molecules, they will try to get more space similar to us human beings. Water is a key thing that supports diffusion and it makes the chemicals more diluted and in conclusion it makes the chemicals weaker. Dilution also makes it less concentrated because of osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of the water molecules. Some other words we learned in class were hypertonic, concentration, indicator, and dilute. Hypertonic means high concentration. Concentration means the amount of a substance per defined space. The word dilute means to make it less concentrated. Indictor means a chemical detector for other particles.

In the experiment in class we learned that when we put corn starch in a bag and put it in iodine it turns purple. The cause of this was the permeable membrane. This means to penetrate through the pores, interstices, etc.  It let the iodine pass through the bag into the cornstarch which showed signs of low concentration. Similar to the cell membrane because it controls what goes in and comes out of the cell just like how the permeable membrane let the iodine passes through the baggie. But the difference is that the permeable membrane lets the iodine pass through and the cell membrane lets food and water pass through.  It is important to know how our body works it could decide a better future for ourselves.

One connection that I can make to life is that when a city or state becomes way too populated they try to expand their country. For example, the thirteen colonies. Another connection is if you put water in a cup and knock it down every will rush out. One more connection is when a group of people exit a roller coaster or a movie everyone rush out of a movie theatre or ride, leaving room in the theatre/ride for the next group. Last and not least is that if you are playing basketball all the air just rushes out.                    

Lab Report

Today during the lab I learned that when you put starch with iodine it turns the startch purple. I also learned that if the baggie is a little bit open substance can easily enter the baggie. Even with the tiniest open, substance can easily enter and leave the baggie. I noticed that there was high concentration because I saw tiny purple dots on the baggie.The plastic bag from the experiment acts like the cell membrane, letting in substances that fit in and not letting in other substances that do not. 


I hope we do more lab experiments in the future!
Thank you Ms.Rousseau