Getting to the Heart (and Liver and Spleen) of Biodiversity

In Carly Winn’s Upper School Biodiversity class, students study the history of life on Earth from early organisms to today’s incredible diversity.

Through a series of eight dissections, they work their way through the animal kingdom’s major phyla. They begin by dissecting an earthworm and move on to more complex animals like sharks and frogs. Their most recent lab gave them the chance to examine the internal anatomy of a dogfish shark and identify key organs like the heart, liver, stomach, and spleen.

Each of these dissections offers a hands-on look at how the structure and function of organs are connected across species and point to a shared evolutionary past.