It began with Ms. Powers’ firm reminder, “Bring your own gloves and face masks so we can dissect safely!” Ms. Powers’ anatomy classes are taking part in dissection of cats this week to explore anatomy through a hands-on activity. “We are dissecting cats because it portrays a very similar anatomy to a human; even closer to dogs,” said Ms. Powers.

All year the students have been learning and memorizing the structures and functions of every part of the human anatomy. “The structures and systems of the human body have been covered through notes and tests all year; this dissecting is a hands on activity that engages the students to bring all of the information they’ve learned throughout the year and use it to accomplish and understand the full anatomy of a cat which is very similar to the human anatomy,” said Mrs. Powers.

One student in the anatomy class enjoys the anatomizing because “the dissection allows me to understand how important each organ and nerve is to the life of the cat and how each system works in sync for the life of the cat,” said Austin Toon, 11th grade. Austin’s cat was found to be a female that had babies which helped him understand how these babies got the nutrients to grow.

“It was very clear while dissecting how the babies got nutrients through their mother’s stomach which I found very interesting; the anatomy of this cat allowed the body to be able to also support other specimens and that’s pretty cool,” said Toon. Along with the dissection helping students understand anatomy, the analysis is also a way for students who want to be surgeons to understand what it’s like to dissect. “In college students who want to be doctors or surgeons will have to practice dissecting and this is a nice gate way to understanding exactly what they want to do,” said Mrs. Powers.