Zoology students perform dissections

Katelyn Escalante

Crimson Chronicle Reporter

Animal dissections are now being done in a new Zoology course taught by Christina Dempsey, SAS science teacher. So far the course has dissected various types of animals such as snails, clams, earthworms, beatles, and the upcoming dissection is a goldfish. 

“I actually really like it, the dissections are running so smoothly, and I don’t have to worry about it,” said Dempsey, about the in-class dissections. 

It also allows students to go into more depth about such interesting creatures, and is a useful course for fulfilling the lab science requirements for CSU and UC schools. Students get to practice real dissections in class that could really prepare them depending on what they really want to do in the future. “It really helps if you’re going into an animal related field or are excited about dissections like being a surgeon,” said Dempsey. 

This Zoology course lets students learn more about the animal kingdom, mainly about animal variety and adaptability, zoological scientific methods, and evolution. The course often involves knowing how to properly dissect an animal, the anatomy of what you are currently learning about, and the basic information of the animal such as the physical characteristics, and how they live their lives in the wild world.

“My favorite animal to dissect in zoology class was definitely the clam. It was interesting to see how an organism we can eat whenever could have so much inside them. Learning about their internal organs and being able to thoroughly understand what they do makes zoology such an impactful class,” said SAS student, Destiny Garibay, a senior.

Students are very excited over this course, and are glad to have these hands-on experiences with animals whether it’s with behavior labs, or the actual dissections. “I think it’s really interesting overall, I’ve never gotten to dissect any animals before ever, so having the chance to look at their anatomy in real life’s really cool,” said SAS student, Jimena Carballo, a senior. 

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