Science experiments on a computer

Advertising

Students can now conduct science experiments, like dissecting in biology, on a computer reports the Winona Daily News. The virtual dissection looks strikingly realistic. Points and clicks slice open an image of a pig, parts of the animal can be magnified, and text identifying areas of the chopped body appear at the bottom of the screen. Plus, there’s a larger margin of error. "If you do something wrong with a real pig, there’s no going back," said Kelly Conner (below left), who chose the virtual method.



In the photo (Melissa Carlo/Winona Daily News) 17-year old Kelly and her lab partner Chelsey Burros dissect a virtual pig fetus during Sandra Bussian’s human biology class at Winona Senior High School. "I didn’t really want to touch them," explained Chelsey. "I definitely didn’t want to crack any ribs."

Virtual chemistry experiments are known more in advanced studies, where programs create a computer simulation of the physical chemistry experiment. In high school virtual chemistry as a teaching aid is in the form of videos made of the physical chemistry experiment.