The equivelant outcome of signing an Body Donation to Science form in the amphibian world.

As we all SEA-ians know, last week was our science and math week. So apart from the add math and chemistry and physics quizzes which was undoubtly dominated by the nerds who think that these useless things are capable of measuring knowledge. But what they dont know is that those with balls, literally or not, would rather spend their time with practical competitions like dissecting helpless organisms in biology.

And so was our biology competition last Friday with very tantalising tasks. Everyone wants to cut something up at some point of their lives. But before we all think about vasectomy or circumsition or cutting the ovaries after menopause, probably the only safe thing that involves an organism and shiny sharp tools to thrill the violence in us is to dissect something small and unsignificant.

So by 12.45 pm, every anxious person in any of the 2 groups of 4 that represent each pure-science class were psyching themselves up, ready to take the life of an innocent (or not) animal. Helplessly, one by one the "tim kais" were abducted from their basket resort into a huge beaker each laden with a cottonful of chlorofoam and covered with a white tile.

Some frogs might try suicide before you pin them down on the dissection board by ramming head-first onto the rough underside of the white tile. Some hard-headed ones just start bleeding and the softies would knock themselves out. Which saves much of our time.

The rules of the competition are to open the chest cavity to expose the organs, doing it the cleanest you can. Means you try not to severe any main arteries or veins that would result to over-bleeding and draining the heart. Once the chest cavity is opened, inform the judge, which was the manly pn. yip and identify the main organs verbally and also successfully locate the alimentary canal. Marks will be given on cleaniness or execution, teamwork, speed and organ identifying.

In the end, the poor frogs, some with severed limbs and heads would just be wrapped up in sheets of newspaper and thrown into a mass-burial, which would be the bin. Poor animals. Gone and forgotten.

This is my group. The "better of the two groups" of 5 Bunga Raya.
From left to right. John, Mel, JeanYi and me.

This is our specimen.

Preparation and our patience tested by iron-willed mr. frog and slow effect of chlorofoam.

The immobilized mr. frog is then laid spread eagle on the dissection board.

The first layer of soft skin is slit-opened and from a pot-bellied frog, you get....

Once the 2nd layer of muscle and rib is mercilessly and carefully cut open, thus the organs.

In a competition, if you think your group's done a good job, always take a group photo.

The judging desicion would be between this group you see on the above and chengy's group who i thought were more experienced and skillful but did a messy messy job. Ours clean as a whistle. We had the beginner's luck. Slow and steady wins the race. Slow, CLEAN and steady.

When everything's judged and done, fooling around is essential to relax those tensed murderous hands.

Whats with licking and kissing a red, tragically exposed, ugly thing called a dissected frog?
Apart from your other friends, thankfully for you mr. frog, you may REST AS ONE PIECE.

Jinny