Dissecting frogs the modern way

Students at the Academy of Arts & Minds Charter High School on Commodore Plaza will be learning about animal anatomy, but they will not be cutting into frogs, thanks to a generous donation from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and TeachKind, the animal rights group. Through its national educational grants program PETA /TeachKind have donated 10 iPads and Punflay's Virtual Frog Dissection Educational App software to be used to replace frog dissection at the school.

The grant will fund a pilot project at the Academy that  uses  iPads for science, biology and zoology classes. The iPads will be available to the science department and the afterschool medical diagnostic club, allowing students to do interactive virtual dissections, quizzes and learn about anatomical comparisons of human and frog organs, and dissection tools.

The iPads are literally life-changing. They bring technology and learning at the Academy to another level. The dissection software allows students to completely understand the internal biology of a frog using the same dissection tools they would use in a lab. Everyone likes the quizzes provided with the dissection app and it motivates them to look for the right answers. Students absolutely love this alternative way of learning. A new way to stimulate learning with a tool that provides incentives not available in the past.

 The Academy plans to continue expanding the virtual science lab beyond the donated 10 iPads and is currently looking for sponsors to help reach their goal of a complete class set (25 iPads) by May 2013.

Photo by A&M Student Darien Hernandez