Most students anticipate the end of the school year as it finally leads into summer break. But for fifth-graders in some Los Banos schools, the end of the school year is highly anticipated for different reasons. Every year, Grasslands Elementary and Los Banos Elementary fifth-graders participate in frog dissections as a way to wrap up the term.
This past June, Christina Sousa of Grasslands Elementary held frog dissections for her fifth-graders with the help of Kim Parreira, retired Los Banos teacher. The fifth-graders were prepared for the activity by introducing them to tools and providing frog anatomy education. Students were also given a sheet that guided them through the investigation of frog organs.
The main goal for this activity is to get students more interested in science through hands-on learning.
“Most learning happens through books and lectures, so when students actually get the experience of learning by doing, there is so much more excitement that leads to more engagement from all the kids,” Sousa said.
Sousa recalls that her students would ask about the dissections almost every day throughout the entire school year. “I hear students talk about it even before they’re even in fifth grade because it’s something that they really look forward to,” she said.
As part of the activity, Sousa also tries to build connections between her students. For the dissections, she develops groups of different students who may have not interacted prior to the activity. The team effort of the frog dissection brings the students together and strengthens the class environment.
In the Los Banos Unified School District, frog dissections became incorporated in elementary learning about 30 years ago. Parreira, who spent 39 years as an educator, helped establish the frog dissection activity when it first began. The suggestion came from Karen Cates, who was a student teacher at the time.
Parreira emphasized the importance of getting students interested in all subjects.
“Once students get that seed of interest and they continue to grow up, their ideas get more elaborate and more important to the world,” she said. “One of those students might pursue their interest and be part of significant breakthroughs, like curing cancer.”
Since her retirement, Parreira has been invited back into classrooms to assist with frog dissections in many classes. Throughout her time teaching, Parreira also acted as a mentor to Sousa when Sousa first began teaching 15 years ago.
“All credit really goes to Kim Parreira. My kids love to see her and always ask for her, and I really appreciate it,” Sousa said.
Parreira said she is always honored to be invited and help make learning a fun, exciting experience for kids. “I love to remind teachers that they just need to be interesting to keep them excited.”
