To Dissect
or not to dissect?
Shannon Shackles
An estimated 10-12 million animals are killed every year for science class dissections (Oakley, 2011). Teachers all over North America use live dissections in their science classrooms to teach their students about a range of topics including anatomy, form, and function. However, live dissection is not a global phenomenon. Live dissections are no longer practiced in countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Argentina, Slovak Republic, and Isreal. Live dissections are rare in other countries including Sweden, Germany, and England. So should classrooms in Canada continue to use live dissections?
A survey was conducted by Oakley in 2011 to ask 153 Ontario science teachers about their views on dissections. They survey found that the majority of science teachers found an unparalleled value in traditional dissections (Oakley, 2011). 94.1% of these science teachers reported conducting live dissections in their classrooms. Most of these teachers conducted dissections in high school biology classes. However, some teachers reported conducting live disections in grades 2, 4, 7, and 8 and also in non-biology classes (Oakley, 2011).
This graph visualizes what animals teachers reported using in their classroom dissections (Oakley, 2011). Within teachers that use dissections in their classrooms, the fetal pig is the most commonly used organism. This is closely followed by cow parts. A variety of other animals were reported being used such as cats, snakes, and mudpuppies.
Animals reported being used for live dissections in Ontario classrooms
(retrieved data from Oakley, 2011)
Introduction