FROG DISSECTION RUBRIC
Names: Date:
Section:
Criteria 5 4 3 2 TOTAL
Dissection complete with Dissection complete with Dissection incomplete Dissection incomplete
no additional tissue, and or without additional with or without additional with or without
Completeness no organs affected tissue, and some organs tissue, and most of the additional tissue, and all
are affected organs are affected of the organs are affected
Followed printed guide, Followed printed guide, Followed printed guide, 2 Used no direction, not
Following Directions and did not get ahead of once got off track during or more times got off focused. Teacher re-
the directions. dissection, self-re- track, teacher re-directed directed more than 3
directed times
Always used Safety procedure Safety procedure No use of safety
Following
safety and equipment and equipment procedures and or
Laboratory procedures and used, but with used, but with 2- equipment
Procedures equipment one infractions 4 infractions
All of the members Most of the 3-4 members did All of the members did
Participation worked extremely well members worked not worked not work together
together, well for most of the together.
peer interaction, mentoring dissection
All members of the group One to two members of Most of the group are not All of the group members
the
are wearing complete group are not wearing wearing personal are not wearing complete
Personal
personal protective complete personal protective equipment personal
Protective equipment (mask, lab protective protective
Equipment gown, equipment. equipment.
and gloves)
Extremely efficient, task Completed the task, Got some of the task Didn’t get much done.
completed and clean up done in sub group, others Wasted most of the time.
Working Productively complete left little time for clean- stayed off task. Off task for most of the
up time.
Names: Date:
Section: Laboratory Activity No.
FROG DISSECTION
Introduction:
Frogs belong to the class amphibian. Although many differences exist between humans and
frogs, the basic body plans are similar. Humans and frogs both belong to the phylum Chordata. By
studying the anatomy of the frog, you will better understand the human body systems.
Kindly read the instruction or procedures carefully.
Objective:
Investigate the anatomy and organ systems of the frog.
To observe the relationship between organ structure and function.
To compare frog and human anatomy to better understand body systems
Vocabulary Words
Dorsal – towards the back
Ventral – towards the belly
Lateral – towards the side
Median – towards the middle
Anterior – towards the head
Posterior – towards the tail
Laboratory Equipment:
Frog Lab gown
Dissecting kit Gloves
Dissecting pan Mask
Water Pins
Procedures:
Part I: External Anatomy
1. Make sure frog is right side up so that you can see the face.
2. Identify the eyes, which have a nictitating membrane that serves to moisten the eye.
3. Identify the tympanic membrane, or eardrum. It is located behind each eye (look at figure 1)
4. Find the external nares or nostrils (figure 1)
5. Find the digits, which are like fingers on both the fore and hind limbs (figure 2)
6. Determine if your frog is male or female by looking at the innermost finger of the forelimb. The
male pad is an enlarged darker patched pad that the male uses to grasp a female during mating.
Part II: Mouth
1. Pry open the mouth. Use the scissors to cut the corner of the mouth where the maxilla and
mandible join together.
2. Find the tongue and pull it out.
3. Feel the maxillary teeth that are along the rim of the upper jaw. (look at figure 3) Notice that
the only upper jaw has teeth.
4. Locate the glottis, it is a slit opening for the voice box on the floor of the mouth.
5. Find the esophagus at the rear of the mouth.
Part III: Internal Anatomy; Dissection Opening
the Frog
1. Place the frog ventral side up (on its back) and pin its four limbs down.
2. Lift the frog’s skin with forceps between the rear legs.
3. Make a small cut through the lifted skin with the scalpel. Take care to cut only the skin you are
making a starting place for the scissors.
4. Use the scissors to continue the incision up to the midline all the way through the frog’s skin.
5. Stop cutting when your scissors reach the frog’s neck
6. Now, you will cut horizontally, Use the scissors to make sideways incisions in skin.
7. The first incision are made between the front legs. Then do the same with rear legs.
8. Be careful to cut only skin, not muscle
9. Pick up the flap of skin with the forceps.
10. Use a scalpel to help separate the skin from the muscle layer below. Then pin the skin to the
dissection tray.
Part IV: Cutting the Muscle and Bone
First Muscle Incision
1. Do the same incisions, this time through the abdominal muscle. You will find it easier to begin
the vertical incision by lifting the muscle layer with the forceps. Do this between the rear legs of
the frog.
2. Make a small cut with the scalpel.
3. Use the scissors to continue the incision up the middle to just below the front legs.
4. Don’t cut too deeply, the muscle is thin. It is easy to damage the organs underneath.
Cutting the bone
1. Cut through the chest bone. When you reach the point just below the front legs, turn the scissors
blades sideways, so that you only cut through the bones in the chest. Be careful that you don't cut
too deeply.
2. Stop cutting when your reach the frog’s neck.
3. Second (Horizontal) Muscle Incision
4. Make the horizontal (sideways) incisions, just as you did with the skin using the scalpel. The
first incision is between the front legs, the second is between the rear legs.
5. Separate the muscle flaps from the organs below. Pull back and hold the muscle flaps with the
forceps
6. Use scalpel to separate the muscle from the organ tissue.
7. Pin the muscle flaps back far enough to allow easy access to the internal organs
Part V: Internal Body Systems
We are now ready to explore the frog's anatomy. To make our exploration easier, we will look at
the organs in four different layers, beginning with the liver and heart layer.
Layer 1
1. The liver is a large, brownish colored organ covering most of the body cavity.
2. The heart is a small triangular shaped organ between the front legs, just above the liver.
3. The frog’s heart has three chambers. The picture (right) shows only the lower chamber of the
heart. Can you find all three chambers?
Layer 2
1. Reveal layer two. The heart and liver in layer one hide some of the organs below them.
2. Use the forceps and the probe to pick up the liver and reveal layer two.
3. Layer two includes the gall bladder, the stomach, and the small intestine.
4. Examine the gall bladder. Under the liver, we see a small, greenish sac. This is the gall bladder.
You might also see it by separating the right and middle lobes of the liver.
5. Examine the stomach. The stomach looks like a sac on the frog's left side (on your right). It is a
large firm organ.
6. Examine the small intestine. The small intestine is a long folded, tube like organ, that is posterior
the stomach.
Layer 3
1. Reveal layer three. Remove the liver to see the organs in layer three.
2. The liver is easier to remove if you remove the gall bladder and heart at this time.
3. Put to the side, but still on the tray.
4. Take a close look at the lungs and pancreas. The lungs are difficult to locate in a preserved frog.
5. They are on either side of the heart.
6. You may need to remove the lungs and place them on the tray as well.
7. You can't see the pancreas without lifting the stomach and intestines with the forceps. The
pancreas is a thin, yellowish ribbon.
8. The intestines are held in place by thin, transparent tissue called the mesentery.
9. If you have a female frog, you will need to remove the ovaries before you can see layer four.
10. Place the organs in the tray.
Layer 4
1. To see layer four, you need to remove the stomach, small intestine, large intestine, and pancreas.
2. Place on the tray.
3. Examine the spleen. Locate the spleen in the male frog. It is a small, round reddish organ.
4. It is a little more difficult to find the spleen in a female frog
5. The kidneys are elongated, brownish colored organs found in the lower part of the frog's
abdomen.
6. Female kidneys are located in the same place but can only been seen after removal of the ovaries
and oviduct
PART VI: Identification
Label the part of the specimen, you can do it with your partner
NOTE: CLEAN UP YOUR WORK AREA, MAKE SURE ALL THE EQUIPMENT USED WERE
RETURNED TO THEIR APPROPRIEATE PLACES.
