App of the Week: Frog Dissection

Title:‘ Frog Dissection
Cost: $3.99
Platform: iPad iOS 4.3 or later.

This app gives students a seemingly real frog dissection experience without the nasty smell of formaldehyde. The graphics are stunning and the 360 degree views give students a close-up, 3D look at each different organ within the frog’s body cavity.

I can remember dissecting frogs in 10th grade biology class with my lab partner. Once we were finally able to open the frog’s belly, everything inside sort of looked the same. Due to the storage process of the specimens, the brine the frogs are kept in has a way of washing out the color of the frog, making everything appear grey in color. This makes it hard to decipher the different parts of the frog and where they are located. The app brings the dissection process from the lab right to your iPad. If I had this app to review before and after the actual live dissection in class, I would have been better equipped for the proceeding test.

The dissection portion of this app is both interactive and educational. I found myself enjoying using the scalpel to cut and the forceps to pull back the layers of the epidermis. Other parts of the app serve as study guides and tutorials to reinforce what you have just learned during the dissection.

The other sections include the frog’s life cycles, different types of frogs, videos, internal organs in 3D, and more. Once you have fully explored the app, you can take a multiple choice quiz to help gauge how well you know your stuff. I can’t find any complaints about this app — even the price is reasonable. I mean, let’s face it, education is invaluable and I think teens currently studying biology in high school will find this app to be a perfect companion to their class notes.