These links are provided as a service for teachers looking for dissection alternatives. The Alberta SPCA does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. The items on this page are available for purchase from the suppliers.
Virtual Frog Dissection
This frog dissection app includes individual 3-D organ views and information, voiceovers for instruction and reading, detailed labels, information on frog classification, lifecycle, organ functions, and more.
Virtual Rat Dissection
This iPad app allows students to experience a virtual dissection of a rat. The app walks you through a series of steps on how to dissect a rat, and includes both written instructions and voice-overs. The organs are all presented as 3-D images, with detailed information on each organ.
Getting Nerdy with Mel and Gerdy
Mel and Gerdy offer 3-D models that can be used as an alternative to dissection or as a summative assessment for comparative anatomy. Models include PowerPoint slides and PDF guides with descriptions.
Animal models include: Frog, fetal pig, cat, shark, snake, bird, perch, and rat. Invertebrate models include: Worm, grasshopper, crayfish, clam, starfish, squid, and sponge.
Biosphera
This software allows a viewing of the animal body and skeleton in 3-D! Animals include: frog, horse, canine, cat, rat, bird, bovine, and pig.
The Society for Humane Science provides comprehensive teaching materials that accompany this software, including lesson plans and recorded classes. For information regarding subscription options, visit their website (lessons based on the BC science curriculum and can be adapted).
Anatomy in Clay
Skeletal models allow students to add organs and muscles that they create out of modelling clay. Use the models to teach skeletal, muscular, and other body systems.
Dig a Pig
Dig a Pig contains 217 high-resolution images of a fetal pig. As an added bonus, images of a cow’s eye and heart are included, as well as images of the kidney and uterus of an adult pig.
Digital Frog
The Digital Frog 2.5 uses the full spectrum of multimedia technologies—full-motion (and full-screen) video, animation, sounds, narration, in-depth text and still images—to bring teaching dissection and anatomy to life.
