Twelve Twelve Twelve

Twenty years to the day when I had that first wave of labor pains engulfed me.  It was nothing like the ones we describe in ob/maternity nursing. That low back pain that radiates to the front that gradually increases in intensity, that period of contraction that makes everything else stop except that one piercing moment of excruciating pain that slowly recede as the contraction eases out, that moment I slipped off the chair not actually realizing I had slipped off.  And so that was the signal you were about to come.   

frogs and things

I distinctly remember the days leading to our lab requirement of having to dissect a frog.  I am not a squeamish person but the thought of having to gut a "sleeping" frog to see automaticity in real time was something I was not looking forward to doing.  


I told my ever supportive grandpa about it and he was more than willing to help me catch that "perfect" specimen.  We actually did not have to look too far to find the one, nor did it even ever occur to us that a dozen well-preserved frogs lined up the shelves of Miranda bookstore along Morayta Ave., that is because there was this big bullfrog that used to frequent our little pond in front of the house.  He was a big, greenish slimy toad that will not fit into the standard specimen container. Nevertheless, he made it to our group's dissecting table.


Of course, how can one start begin poking a frog if you didn't have a dissecting needle or better yet a whole bunch of those instruments found in a dissecting kit.  The lab we used didn't have as much tools for all students but I guess it was the sign of the times then--it was  uncommon to have complete, state of the art laboratories in those days.  We just had to make do with what was available; even researching wasn't as easy as going to an internet shop, clicking a button, and reading about Andreas Vesalius (oh, who's he?).  What was not uncommon was being resourceful. Though I wasn't counting the days until I get to chop chop my big slimy toad, I sure wanted to poke him when the day comes.  And so I embarked on creating my very own improvised dissecting needle.  It was actually very easy to do, aside from the fact that our professor provided us instructions on how do to it. All I needed was a large safety pin and the transparent tube of  an old used up ballpen. And so that was that, and I was now armed and ready, to poke the froggy.

It didn't occur to me that we would be the one to make it go to sleep, and how did you do that? Well, by using chloroform, well at least that's what I remember using.  First we  tried dropping a chloroform-soaked cotton ball  into my big toad's snug container.  He did not move much when tried getting him out, but I think we had to knock him out twice because he started to twitch once he was on the dissecting tray.

Anyhow, I also remember there was a lot of oohs, aeehs, and iws, and a whole lot of interesting fun, at least for me.  And so indeed, the heart continued to beat long after it has left the circulatory system--hooray for automaticity!


Now, what made me think of frog dissection all of a sudden? Well, it's because of this site I found while researching about strategies in elearning and instructional design.  Lo and behold, how I found much wonder and awe when I saw this virtual dissecting learning program. This combined with what we had done in the laboratory would have been a perfect learning experience.  Learners now are so fortunate to have all these technology-based programs to make learning a pleasant experience.    

http://articulate.www.resources.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/community/blogdemo/frog_dissection_demo/player.html

ICKY-FREE FROG DISSECTION

Oh why oh why didn't we have this before? But then again, I suppose I have had a much more satisfying experience doing the cutting and the poking than if I were just to watch the entire thing.  Oh well, I don't know how much of the world's frog population will be saved by this program, but it sure looks like a promising tool for teaching. So good bye to the search for the ideal specimen, the forcing it into a jar, the making it go to sleep before laying it on the tray (or you will have to go run/hop after it).  

For those who are squeamish, well, you'll still go through the eeewwws. 
One less frog prince =)