The smell hit senior Zack Kifer immediately, giving him the thought of blowing chunks everywhere.
“It was so gross; it looked like Chinese food,” said Kifer.
In Mrs. Mariana Hendrycy’s AP Biology class students got to feel the insides of pigs.
“Mrs. Hendrycy got all the guts out and I started playing with it,” said senior Chris Wooden.
While pig guts may be gross for many people, Mrs. Hendrycy’s students didn’t think so. For the most part “they thought it was all pretty novel, sometimes they were grossed out,” said Mrs. Hendrycy.
Some of the students’ reactions were not so repulsive.
“It was all really cool. It reminded me of a Cannibal Corpse song,” said senior Trevor Woodard, especially due to all of the blood.
Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games, as there was an educational side to the dissection.
“The purpose of this was to develop a detailed understanding of the anatomy of the circulatory and respiratory systems,” said Mrs. Hendrycy.
AP Biology students got a hands-on chance to understand the respiratory system for themselves as well. The dissection was optional for those who were too grossed out.
“I didn’t touch it. I refrained from touching it. I felt like it was going to move,” said Kifer, who simply viewed the process. Students also had the opportunity to see if they could put air into the lungs.
“We stuck straws into the trachea and blew air into them to see if it would expand the lungs,” said junior Michelle Howard.
“The inside of the pig entrails was cold and moist,” said senior Trevor Woodard after feeling the slimy guts.
The remains were disposed off properly following the dissection lab.
“We had to bag them up in ice for the other classes to look at,” says junior Katie Bundrick. When all of it was said and done, one student was happy that they were finally done.
“I was glad when they put up all the guts. My stomach wasn’t upset anymore,” said Kifer.