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Biology Class Is No Cut-Up for US Kids

More pupils duck dissections by doing them virtually

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 1, 2008 7:59 PM CDT
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(Newser) – More biology students are ducking icky frog and fetal pig dissections by doing them on computers, the AP reports. Animal rights activists, thrilled that 14 states let kids skip dissections, are helping get the interactive programs to schools. One West Virginia group donated software to a high school that spends about $1,000 a year on frogs and $40 a pop for hogs.

Dissection programs go by names like Digital Frog, Froguts, and V-Frog. But not all educators are ecstatic: “To actually cut through the tissue, see how the skin layers feel, the textures, the way the organs look inside the body, I think that can't be duplicated,” one Washington teacher said. An animal rights supporter countered that senseless slaughter “desensitizes kids.”

A screen shot of a frog dissection image from a virtual dissection program that includes the frog and instructions to the student.
A screen shot of a frog dissection image from a virtual dissection program that includes the frog and instructions to the student.   (AP Photo)
A diagrammatic view of a frog's circulatory system is shown. This is part of a virtual dissection program, which could save schools money.
A diagrammatic view of a frog's circulatory system is shown. This is part of a virtual dissection program, which could save schools money.   (AP Photo/Digital Frog International)
A young boy handles a frog.
A young boy handles a frog.
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Check out Frogouts software
froguts.com

Or cut up a pig online
Whitman College

 
high school • animal rights • frogs • virtual imaging • computer • dissection

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