Which specimen that we have dissected so far seems most like humans? Why?

The specimen that we have dissected so far that seems most like humans is the crayfish. A crayfish has antenna and antennules that is like humans' hair. A crayfish has walking legs like humans' but the crayfish has more legs than human. The crayfish swimmerets, sternum, uropod, and telson are like humans' feet and arms because humans uses their feet and arms to swim in water. The most obvious thing that a crayfish has that is like the human are the mouth and eyes. The crayfish abdomen are like humans' body or legs.

Blog 14 Compare two of the organisms that we have dissected Discuss at least 2 similarities and 3 differences

Two different dissections that we had done so far were the grasshopper and the frog.
Similarities - Both of these animals have flexible jaws which allow them to eat their prey easily.
- Secondly, they are both great jumpers. Their legs allow both of them to travel quickly to either catch prey or escape predators.

Difference - Their skin are different though, the grasshopper has a hard shell while the frogs have slimy and slippery skin.
- The internal organs of frogs have a greater similarity to our own while a grasshopper doesn't.
- Finally the grasshopper has a lot more internal and external parts.

Blog 13 What was most interesting about this week's dissections?

We finished dissecting the crayfish this week. The crayfish was a very weird experience because it was the first time using scissors to dissect instead of a scalpel. I would say the most annoying part of the entire dissection was the small, I think the specimen were already decomposing so the smell was just terrible and it made me very nauseous. However, the actual dissection itself was very interesting. The inside of the crayfish was very complex and filled with little tiny organs everywhere, the most interesting organ was probably the green gland because I had never seen one before. I wish we could have dissected the stomach to see the teeth, that would have been very interesting. I also didn't know that crayfish were also hermaphrodites just like the worm, so that they could reproduce more. By far though, the most interesting part was the fact that you told us that they thrive in the sewers, which just completely disgusted me. I've had crayfish before, and I thought it was pretty good, but I can never look at them the same now.

Blog #10 Why is dissection an important part of a biology curriculum? Which animals and/or plants should be included in biological studies?

Dissection is an important part of biology because it offers hands on experience for the students that take part in it. It promotes the fundamentals of field biology and the basic fact that students are allowed to see the insides of an organism and understand further how the organs and such work. To be able to see the internals of an organism is a big part of the study of life because it gives a visual example of how things work inside the life form. I believe that euthanized frogs and other small animals that are abundant in nature should be able to be used in labs for dissection. Any life form that offers a good example of what living things look like on the inside, and are very abundant in nature, and can be euthanized correctly.

Blog#12 What surprised you from the worm's dissection?

The one thing that surprised me about the worm dissection was the fact that the worms had way more organs than I had initially thought there were. I also had no idea that the worm peed and produced mucous from it's skin, that part was a bit disgusting, because I am a bit of a germaphobe. I also did not expect the exterior skin to cut so easily. I was also very interested in the digestion process because all the worm eats is dirt. Apparently, worms also fertilize soil in a way somehow, which was also very interesting because of the fact that the mucous and urine is what fertilizes it. Another thing that i found was peculiar was the fact that the worm is a hermaphrodite. I never knew that worms had both male and female organs, nor did I even know how they mated. Being a hermaphrodite apparently increases birth rates and the general number of worms that can survive.