Mindful Ramblings

Phylum Chordata

Before we get started, be sure to check out the Book Extras at the Apologia Website, there are many interesting links that go along with our study of Phylum Chordata.

Looking for vertebrates in Kingdom Animalia?  They can all be found here in Phylum Chordata.  Not all of these creatures have a backbone like the one in this x-ray though; some have a notochord instead….like the creepy and vampirous Lamprey!

Just for fun, check this short video out from “Dirty Jobs” courtesy of the Discover Channel:

Here’s a link to one more short Lamprey segment from Dirty Jobs, appropriately titled, “Slippery Sucker!”.  Can you tell we found this creature a bit intriguing?

If you’d like to find more information on many of the creatures mentioned in this module, you may want to take a look at ARKive: Images of Life on Earth.  The link will take you to the page on Fish, but there are many other creatures covered on this website.  (Note: May have some evolutionary content.)   There are lots of pictures, videos and all kinds of infomation including, fact sheet, status, description, range, habitat, threats, etc.

Experiment 13:1 – Perch Dissection

Here are a couple of links that may be especially helpful for you in identifying the internal anatomy of your perch:

CumberlandK12 Schools

Buffalo.edu Biology 200

Our specimen were not great quality and many of the organs were difficult to identify.   Sorry, no good pics to share here…

For the dissection, I made up a Perch Dissection Worksheet for the students to use for their Lab Notebook, instead of drawing their own illustration.   You are welcome to download it if you’d like.  Additionally, you can find information on Perch Dissection at ThinkQuest.org.  (Note: Click the picture to visit their website and learn more about the functions of the organs.)  For fun, they also have a Salmon Dissection Game, which is much less smelly than a real dissection!

Experiment 13.2 – Frog Dissection

We had quite a variety in our specimen for this experiment….we took pictures to share with you!  Didn’t want you to miss out! 🙂  We had everything from Steve to Rainbow Bright Frog….those were not their actual names of course. Once we got inside, Steve was promptly renamed, Plain Jane because of the presence of eggs and oviducts and due to the lack of dye!   Plain Jane did not have nearly as many eggs as Rainbow Bright.   In the end we determined, that only one frog was a male and he had the most fat bodies!  Now, get your strength up, a take a look at a few photos:

 We found the Frog Dissection Guide from Home Science Tools quite helpful to use as a guide for our dissection.  Suprisingly, each frog was very different from the next.

That’s all for this post, but don’t forget to check out these other great blogs that have resources for Module 13:

Applies Place,  Sahm-I-Am,  Books \’N Other Stuff

Snack Ideas that go with this Module:  You must check out Applie’s Friendly Krispy Frog! 

Study Link:  Flashcards & Games at Quizlet.com

Disclaimer:  No income of any kind has been received for the promotion of links and video’s incorporated into this post.  All copyrights on those items, remain with the originator!