This hypercard-like tutorial shows a series of pictures of what you see when dissecting a frog. You can go to a specific part of the frogs body and see a labeled version of what the inside should look like, with things identified and one-line descriptions of function. There is also a step-by-step guide to dissecting a frog, and a self-test on different parts of the frog. All pictures are in color, but they are rough sketches, not actual photos of a frog. I only have the demo version. The same company makes other tutorials for other common dissection animals, including worms, frogs, crayfish, and a few others. They also indicate that they are considering CD versions of these programs, presumably with much nicer pictures.

This program is supposed to accompany an actual dissection, not replace it. I could be persuaded that this might be useful, particularly as a study guide before or after the dissection to prepare for or reinforce what has been seen in an actual animal. Unless you have computers next to your dissection tables, it would not be useful as an actual study guide for the dissection. As mentioned above in the philosophy section, I are a little sceptical that programs such as this which take a study guide and put it on the screen are all that useful, even if they are interactive. However, if you think that programs of this type will help your students, then these programs might be worth looking at.

Computer: Macintosh

Source: Cross Educational Software, 504 E. Kentucky Ave., Ruston, LA 71270. Tel. 1- 800-768-1969. Demo version available at various anonymous ftp sites.

Cost: Low

Last update 22nd of January 1996