Exploring Creation With Biology

Notes: May 2002

We are almost finished with our biology book. I can see that the schedule could use changes. One change is that it takes only one day to complete a dissection instead of the several that I allowed in the schedule. Each dissection takes more time than the previous one. We thought the fish was the most difficult because the dissection tools were inadequate for some of the cutting required. The fish scales slowed the cutting a great deal. We had to use sharp household scissors for some of the cutting. It took us around 2 hours to complete the fish dissection because of the cutting difficulties.

The frog was probably the best dissection because the latex injected organs are easy to identify. Cutting the frog was not difficult except for the neck and shoulders of the frog. These areas were more difficult due to the bones present in that area. An optional bonus of the fish dissection is the fish eyes. My son dissected the eyes and found the lenses, which he found very interesting.

Random Comments

Comment regarding specimens: I purchased our dissection specimens at the beginning of our school year. The dissections did not begin until months later. The worm was dry and dusty and a poor specimen. This may be due to it being bad in the first place or that we bought it too soon.

The Drawing Assignments: My son found the labeled drawings that I required of him tedious but his grades improved by doing them.

Somewhere midway in the book I began to write the schedule of the module on the back of the vocabulary bookmark.

We started our leaf collection early so we could collect the spring leaves as well as the fully-grown leaves. Observing the trees when they 'wake up' in the spring helps me to identify them easier because there is more to go by such as their blooms and spring leaf color as well as emerging pests that live on the trees.

See from Apologia's Knowledge Base this article: Two Example Biology Lab Reports

Basic Lab Forms