The frogs are fake, but the learning is real.

Long a staple of school biology lessons, frog dissection continues to help students learn hands-on about the structure and function of animal organ systems.

But Piscataway Township Schools has added a new wrinkle this school year by introducing synthetic frogs into the middle-school classroom as an option for students who have religious or ethical objection to participating in a dissection.

The great majority of students continue to cut into and examine real, once-living frogs for their lab work. But there were always some students who felt that they could not take part due to a specific objection.

“We would always honor this, but with few alternatives to a packet or video,” said Piscataway Supervisor of K-8 Science and Engineering Dr. Jeffrey Celebre, explaining the workarounds the district previously used for students who objected to participating in a dissection. “As a middle school science team, we have been working to build inclusive, culturally relevant science classrooms that ensure our teaching materials reflect diverse cultures and equity, making all students feel represented and valued.”

To be clear, these are not toy-store plastic frogs. They come from a company called SynDaver specifically for dissection. They are made of “SynTissue” – a synthetic material made from salt, water, and fiber to mimic the physical properties of actual tissues.

“The frog feels totally real,” Celebre said.

The synthetic frogs also have the extra advantage of being reusable. Inside each synthetic frog is a “puck” that contains the organs. After students dissect and remove the contents of the puck, a new one can be put in its place. A fresh band of “skin” is then wrapped around the frog’s body and buttoned, providing the next student a place to make a fresh incision, maintaining the full experience.

“Students who would otherwise be non-participants in the learning activity can now be active in the exploration,” Celebre said.

The frog dissection is an explorative lab activity that is part of Piscataway’s seventh-grade science curriculum’s life science unit, which focuses on structure and function in organisms. More specifically, it is part of a study of bodies as a system of interacting subsystems.

While students learn about the specialized cells that make up each organ system, they go into deeper study of the digestive and nervous systems specifically. The frog dissection serves as a comparative anatomy exploration of the structures with these systems.

“The frog dissection is among several highlights of our seventh-grade science curriculum that provides a memorable hands-on learning experience for our students,” said Piscataway Superintendent Dr. Frank Ranelli. “Our Curriculum and Instruction Department has come a long way in revamping the middle school science experience, and now we’re really focused on making it as equitable and inclusive as possible. Even if it’s a small group of students using the synthetic frogs, this now provides an opportunity for participation that might not otherwise exist.”

Celebre said Piscataway’s teachers are happy to be able to engage all of their classes with the activity – with no students left out.

“We aren’t using the synthetic frogs to completely replace the real thing,” he said. “Real frogs are still most of the dissected specimens being used, but now we have an option for all students.”