Starting March 24, students in Mrs. Rumschlag’s Honors Human Physiology classes began dissecting cats to learn about the muscular system. 

This project took place over the span of about six weeks, and students were required to complete a presentation, detailing the muscles they dissected each day. 

According to Mrs. Rumschlag, “The primary goal of the cat dissection is to develop proficiency in using dissection tools to identify and examine 34 muscles and 15 internal organs.” 

This lab allows students to get a hands-on experience in seeing different parts of the body that they have been learning about year on, but on cats rather than humans.

Working in groups of four to five, teamwork was heavily emphasized throughout this dissection. Mrs. Rumschlag said, “Collaboration plays a crucial role in the success of each lab group, since students must communicate effectively, cooperate closely, and coordinate their efforts to achieve daily learning objectives.” 

Each day of the dissection had a different theme. The theme would determine where the students would be dissecting on the cat. For example, one Day Seven: Leg Day, students were working in dissecting and analyzing different n muscles in the legs. 

The students had to take on multiple roles throughout the dissection. Roles could change daily, and everyone had to help clean at the end of each day. This made sure that the work was divided evenly and did not fall on one single person.

Leaders were in charge of making sure that the dissectors were cutting the right muscles. They had the lab manual open, and took notes on what had to be done. Lilia Robinson-Palomata ‘26, a student in fourth period, said, “The role of the leader was to assign jobs, make sure the dissectors were on the correct muscle, the slides and photos were taken care of, and answer questions.” 

Assistants worked on the slides, took notes, and also helped to direct the dissectors if the leaders needed help.

Hands-on surgeons were the students dissecting. It was important that they worked well together to prevent mistakes. “I mainly hold the cat while we grab tools and take apart the cat’s muscle. I also had to actually dissect and take apart the cat’s muscles,” Eric Landaz ‘26, a student in sixth period, said.  

One day that stood out to students was the last day of the dissection, organs day. Robinson Palomata shared, “It was interesting to see the organs of the cat like the liver, lungs, and more. While the actual part of opening up the cat was unpleasant, getting to see the interior of the animal was fascinating.” 

Overall, this was a unique experience for these students where they got to learn things that other science classes may not teach them.