Curricular Response

My understanding of different animal body systems has been improved by dissecting a squid. This lab was related to the phylum of Mollusca and the class of Cephalopoda. This lab showed us that all Mollusca don’t have an external shell. Some of them, like squid, have an internal shell, like the pen-shaped shell. For example, I realized that the function of these pen shells in the squids is very important because they serve as sites for attachment and important muscles as well as a protective barrier for the visceral organs. Moreover, I know that each part of the squid helps the squid in its daily life. The finlets are used to guide through water while the funnel is used for respiration and waste removal.

Core Competency Self Assessment

I am most proud of the Cephalopoda lab that I did because, while it was fun, it was a little difficult to dissect. The reason is that some of the parts of squid that we had to dissect were hard to take out of squid. For example, with the pen, the internal shell was a little difficult to take out of the body and also, we had to be careful to not break it because with the sac ink and the pen shell, we had to write down our name on our lab worksheet. At the end, successfully, I was able to take the pen out and it did not break, so I could write my name.

While doing this lab, I faced some physical challenges. One of the challenges was, as I mentioned, taking out the pen from the squid. It was a little difficult, but in the end, I was able to take it out. The other challenge in this lab was to cut the squid with the internal parts. This was also a little difficult because you had to be careful not to cut the other parts because if you cut them, the rest of the lab would be very difficult.

One of my strategies was to be patient and slowly cut the body. If you do it too fast, you might cut the internal body parts too, so you should do it slowly. My next strategy was to watch how my teacher took off the pen shell first and then try it myself.