The AP Biology class dissected fetal pigs from May 17-22, the week following the Biology advanced placement test.  It has been an annual tradition for the last 14 years.

According to Biology teacher Rene Gillibert, this experience “might be the only time that people can actually see inside of an animal.” Gillibert says this hands-on learning helps students understand “what their own body looks like by using a pig as a model.”

Junior Kimya Peyvan appreciated the opportunity to learn more about pig anatomy. “It is a good intro because fetal pigs are pretty small and pretty easy to handle. I want to be a Bio major, so once I go off to college it will be more complicated organs and more complicated species, so it is a great step.”

Gilbert schedules this activity to follow the AP exam because the content covered during the dissection is not typically on the test.

Peyvan was grateful that the dissection took place after the AP exam because it provided her and her peers with a lower-stress environment. “If it was before APs, I would be worrying about all my other classes and my grades and I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the actual biology of it. And if it was before, I would just rush through it […]  But now that it is after my exam I’m able to do specific organ dissections that aren’t really required for me to do, but I just do it for fun,” said Peyvan.

Junior Kate Ye also enjoyed the activity. “It was a really educational experience to see where certain body parts were, and what their functions are. I think [Gilibert] did a great job of explaining the dissection and showing us each part of the pig. Once you get past the idea of the baby dead pig, it’s actually pretty cool to see what really goes on inside mammals like us,” she said.

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