People and Amphibians

Theme: Biological Communities, Ecology and Bioethics.

To help you understand how humans interact with and affect frogs (and other living things), discuss the following questions:

1. Do you think frogs should be dissected in middle school or high school science classes and why or why not?

2. Visit the Curry School of Education Interactive Frog Dissection website (http://curry.edschool.Virginia.EDU/go/frog/) and spend a few minutes performing the frog dissection there. What do you think of this as an alternative to real dissections? Do you think schools should be moving in the direction of simulated dissections? What are some reasons for or against this?

3. In some parts of the world, people want to cut down forests that frogs and other organisms live in. In many cases, those people aren't cruel, they just want room to live, or they need the money they can get from selling the cut-down trees, in order to survive. What do you feel about this kind of situation and what solution can you suggest that would take in consideration both the frogs' and people's needs?

4. What sort of things should you think about when you make decisions that affect the environment?