解剖青蛙——讓人咋舌的中學“成年禮”

The smell of 1）formaldehyde， that first cut into the earthworm or the frog—you probably remember that time you dissected an animal in science class. These days， there’s a computer program for that. But dissection is still a pretty universal classroom experience.

Right around the 2）Bunsen burners and 3）Petri dishes of Rob Glotfelty’s science lab， there’s a stack of strange packages—vacuum-sealed frogs piled five high. These are leopard frogs， and they are slimy and smelly. Some kids want none of it.

Taylor Smith： Oh， I ain’t taking it out of the bag. I cut it there. My job is done.

That’s Taylor Smith. She’s a seventh grader at Patterson Park Middle in Baltimore. She’s decked out in her black smock， plastic 4）goggles and rubber gloves. But she’s not as ready as she looks.

Taylor： I don’t wanna cut open no live animal. I’m gonna throw up on it.

Taylor’s like a bunch of other kids in the room. She doesn’t want to touch， much less cut， an actual frog. So she’s gonna be our dissection guide today， because Glotfelty’s goal is to get kids like her over the 5）squeamish 6）hump.

Somebody’s gonna have to cut， because the mission is to 7）splay open this formaldehyde-laced little frog and then pick out the dark-colored organs one by one.

Rob： Are we really interested in how frogs’ bodies work？ Like， have we been studying frogs？

Students： No.

Rob： No. What have we been studying？

Student A： Humans—and frogs are similar to humans.

But they don’t start with a frog. First， they cut open an earthworm and then a chicken wing. In high school， the animals get even bigger. Rats， cats and fetal pigs all give insight into how our own bodies work.

David Evans： There’s something 8）visceral and important about the real thing.

It’s almost representative of scientific inquiry itself， says David Evans. He heads the National Science Teachers Association. You experiment on something real and ask questions about it.

David： What does this particular organ feel like？ How stiff is it？ Is it 9）compressible？

Using dead animals to make these connections used to be the only way business was done， whether a kid liked it or not. But in 1987， one student came along and changed all that.

（In a documentary）

Reporter： This month， Jenifer Graham， who is a 15-year-old student at Victor Valley High School in Victorville， California， will ask the school board there to permit her to refuse to dissect frogs in her high school biology class.

This was big news at the time. Because of Graham， California passed a law that students have to be given alternatives. And since then， at least nine other states have done the same. And the alternatives—Graham went on to champion them as in this commercial.

（In an ad）

Jenifer： Last year in my biology class， I refused to dissect a frog. I didn’t want to hurt a living thing. I said I would be happy to do it on an Apple computer. That way， I can learn and the frog lives.

Ever since， computer-based models have been filtering their way into the classroom. The Science Teachers Association now asks educators to give students a choice， but the group also insists on the fundamental importance of being able to dissect. Glotfelty uses both methods. The computers help kids see， he says， but the dissection makes them appreciate.

Rob： They’ve been looking forward to this all year. Like， this is the thing that they wanna do.

And the kids all around the room do seem completely hooked. Everybody’s literally 10）bouncing around their trays. And Taylor Smith， who says she doesn’t like science， she’s about to use tiny scissors to cut through the 11）collarbone.

One by one， she and her team organize all the little frog organs on a 12）laminated sheet of paper. Taylor： I’m not a chicken anymore.

In fact， she’s kind of starting to enjoy it. Taylor： This ain’t so bad. I like this.

That’s the power of dissection， says Glotfelty—to take a kid who normally doesn’t even like science and get ’em excited about frog guts.

甲醛的氣味，切入蚯蚓或者青蛙的第一刀——你很可能還記得自己在科學課上解剖動物的情景?，F在已經有電腦程序可以取代實際操作，但解剖依然是一種非常普遍的課堂體驗。

羅布·格羅特費爾蒂的科學實驗室里，在本生燈和皮氏培養皿旁邊有一堆奇怪的袋子——五袋真空包裝的青蛙。這是些豹紋蛙，它們全身黏乎乎的，而且有一股腥臭味。有些孩子對此敬謝不敏。

泰勒·史密斯：噢，我才不要把它從袋子里拿出來。我就連著袋子將它切開。我的活兒就完了。

說話的孩子名叫泰勒·史密斯。她在巴爾的摩的帕特森帕克中學上七年級。她已經穿好了黑色工作罩衫，戴好了塑膠護目鏡以及橡膠手套。但她并未如表面上那樣準備就緒。

泰勒：我不想切開活生生的動物，我會吐的。

泰勒的反應就跟實驗室里的不少其他學生一樣。她碰都不想碰，更別說切開一只真青蛙了。所以今天我們將以她做導視，看看解剖教學的情況，因為格羅特費爾蒂的目標就是讓像她這樣的孩子克服膽怯心理障礙。

總得有人下刀，因為這個課堂任務是切開這種用甲醛溶液浸泡過的小青蛙，然后將那些深色器官一個個摘出來。

羅布：大家真的對青蛙的身體結構感興趣嗎？

這么說吧，我們一直在研究青蛙嗎？

學生們：不是。

羅布：不是。我們一直在研究的是什么？

學生甲：人類——青蛙的身體機能與人相似。

但他們一開始解剖的并不是青蛙。他們動刀子的對象最先是蚯蚓，然后是雞翅?！?br>