Biology Lab

Virtual Frog Dissection

Name:______Date:______

Directions:

  • Go to
  • Click on “External Anatomy” and go through information on ORIENTATION, SKIN, HEAD, CLOACA, and LEGS
  • Make sure the “audio” feature is turned on
  • Use the “next” arrow on the bottom of the screen to move from section to section
  • After finishing, click on “menu” to return to the main menu
  • Click on “Internal Anatomy” watch the clips and follow directions to perform the virtual dissection – use the scissors, tweezers, + pin buttons on the left-hand side of the screen
  • Go though information on DIGESTIVE, RESPIRATORY, CIRCULATORY, REPRODUCTIVE, EXCRETORY, NERVOUS, MUSCULAR, and SKELETAL SYSTEMS
  • After completing the virtual dissection, go to
  • Scroll about halfway down the page and under the section “More online dissection information” click on “Virtual Frog Dissection Quiz” link
  • BEFORE starting the quiz, click on the “Frog Anatomy” link
  • Read through the information and then about halfway down the page, on the left-hand side click on “Frog Dissection Images” link
  • View the “Oral Cavity”, “Female Frog Internal Anatomy”, and “Male Frog Internal Anatomy” diagrams
  • The diagrams are labeled and the list of structures are underneath – also use your lab handout to see the difference of what a drawing looks like (on the lab) and what it actually looks like (on the virtual diagram)
  • After reviewing the anatomy, go back to
  • Click on “Start the Frog Dissection Quiz”
  • Write/type each question as you go through the quiz and include the correct answer.

Analysis Questions:

  1. Frogs have a nictitating membrane, what is the function of the nictitating membrane and why do frogs have them?
  1. A frog does not chew its food. What do the positions of its teeth suggest about how the frog uses them?
  1. Trace the path of food through the digestive tract of a frog.
  1. Trace the path of blood through the circulatory system of a frog, starting at the right atrium.
  1. Trace the path of air through the respiratory system of a frog.
  1. Trace the paths of sperm in a male frog and eggs in a female frog.
  1. Trace the paths of urine through a male frog and through a female frog.
  1. Which parts of the frog’s nervous system can be observed in its abdominal cavity and hind leg?
  1. Suppose in a living frog the spinal nerve extending to the leg muscle were cut. What ability would the frog lose? Why?
  1. The abdominal cavity of a frog at the end of hibernation season would contain very small fat bodies or none at all. What is the function of the fat bodies?
  1. Structures of an animal’s body that fit it for its environment are adaptations. How do the frog’s powerful hind legs help it to fit into a life both in water and on land?
  1. During one mating of frogs, the female lays some 2,000 to 3,000 eggs in water as the male sheds millions of sperm over them. How do these large numbers relate to the frog’s fitness for life in water?

*** You need to hand in all 10 questions and answers from the virtual quiz and Analysis Questions # 1-12 typedin complete sentences!***

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