Animal dissections at SCHS have long been a core aspect of life science classes, including biology and physiology classes. Although not occurring frequently, dissections can provide students with opportunities to see anatomy and learn firsthand, bringing the pictures from textbooks and diagrams to life.
Science teacher Sara Carvalho explained that she is mindful of ethical concerns when choosing specimens from Carolina Scientific, the company that supplies SCHS with science materials, such as the animals students study.
“In terms of religious beliefs, any beliefs like that, I try to be very cognizant of that,” Carvalho said. “For example, all the specimens we buy… the hearts and brains are from sheep because I know that there’s some religions that wouldn’t do the dissection if it was a pig. There’s cultures that won’t interact with pigs, so I’m not gonna go buy a pig heart and expect them to (dissect it). I would never force a student to dissect in that way.”
Junior Ariel Tepora, an Honors Human Physiology and AP Chemistry student, described how her frog dissection in freshman Biology encouraged her to experiment more and provided an alternate perspective to reading from a textbook.
“I’m a visual learner, so just looking at things in a different way helped me learn,” Tepora said. “The main focus during Biology when we did our dissections was how food is processed throughout the body. We cut out the stomach and everything and learned about how it’s processed and what other things come into play. It was pretty interesting to look at.”
Students get the chance to work in groups and actively engage with lessons by identifying and comparing organs. Similar to Tepora, junior Trisha Sharma explained how physically seeing the anatomy of the dissected animals made a difference in her learning.
“I think it (dissections) did (help) just because we were able to actually see the organs inside and how they’re actually arranged,” Sharma said. “That was interesting. Diagrams – you can’t really see the depth of those diagrams. It’s really nice to see the physical version of that.”
The dissections at SCHS are planned, structured and tailored to fit specific learning goals, Carvalho explained. In science education, however, discussions about ethics, animal sourcing and student choice continue to shape how dissections are conducted.
According to the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals organization, 20 million animals are abused and tortured to be researched in classes. While students acknowledged the educational value of dissections, Tepora raised ethical concerns that focused less on the dissection itself and more on whether animals are killed specifically for classroom use.
“We shouldn’t kill animals just for scientific purposes, but I believe if the body is already dead and it’s being preserved, then yes, I think it’s okay to dissect it,” Tepora said.
Since dissections are often a mandatory part of the class, such as AP Human Physiology, where dissections are a core learning process. Sharma stressed the importance of considering students who may be uncomfortable participating due to various reasons.
“It’s also important to think about ethics, how they’re (animals) sourced, where they’re sourced and effective alternatives perhaps,” Sharma said. “I know for some students, there’s also religious or cultural beliefs that make doing them difficult or even not allowed, and those students specifically should have equally effective alternatives.”
Honors Human Physiology student and junior Alexander Nguyen suggested that requiring students to conduct dissections should depend on the class.
“For Human Physiology, it should be required, but it should be warned ahead of time. But classes you’re forced to take like Biology, I believe, no, you shouldn’t be forced to do them,” Nguyen said.
Although some find dissections uncomfortable, most recognize its value when approached thoughtfully. Carvalho believes hands-on experiences are crucial for real-world preparation.
“I think of it this way: if you’re gonna have surgery, you don’t really want it to be from a surgeon who has never practiced right?” Carvalho said. “You want someone who has practiced, and a lot of times they practice on animals, they practice on cadavers, they practice on actual specimens.”
Whether dissections remain a staple or change with new alternatives, experimental approaches continue to make science classes memorable for students at SCHS.
“Just being able to see and compare… that’s not something you can do with a piece of paper or a drawing or even a simulation online. You can’t feel it. It’s very different,” Carvalho said.