Students in Dr. Karen Walter’s, fifth period zoology class dissect red-eared turtles, March 6.

Walters hands out packets to guide them in the dissection process to explain what they should examine. Students are assigned to take pictures throughout dissection to include in a future presentation.

Junior Kayden Marquez shares how the dissection increased her understanding of turtles and the most challenging parts of the dissection.

“The dissection helped us see all the different parts of the turtle,” Marquez said. “We learned how the lungs pumped air and how the heart circulatory system worked. Taking apart the turtle was very difficult because of the hard shell. We learned how to tell whether it’s a female or male. Although it was super sad dissecting a turtle, Dr. Walters showed us how the lungs inflate by blowing air into a straw to the tubes of the lungs.”

This dissection corresponds with the unit students are studying, amphibians.

Turtle Fun Facts:

• Turtles can be traced back to the time of dinosaurs
• Turtle have over 50 bones in their body
• Turtles cannot come out of their shell
• 129 out of about 300 species of turtles are endangered
• Turtles are cold blooded

For more information on dissections biology has participated in, check out Cephalopod dissection

For more Feather photos, visit media, photos 2018-19.