Fish dissection comes to Turner

Instead of scalpels, fifth grade students used scissors to cut open the fish.

Tony Amandi and Leslie Lindsay, from the Oregon Department of Fish and Game, came to Turner Elementary School Tuesday, January 15, to help our fifth grade students learn about fish and their anatomy.

They showed the students how to dissect fish. “I really enjoy doing this,” said Dr. Amandi. “I like it when people learn and have fun.”

Dr. Amandi started the classroom dissections when his son’s kindergarten teacher asked him to help the kids learn more about fish. He liked it so much that he has continued for 15 years. Now he and Ms. Lindsay visit seven schools for a total of around 20 classrooms.

The rainbow trout used in the dissections came from the Leaburg Hatchery in Oregon. “I use about 80 fish per school,” Dr. Amandi said.

Dr. Amandi has a doctorate, which means he’s gone to college for seven to eight years. He said that if you are planing to do his job you don’t need to go to college that long.

Dr. Amandi and Ms. Lindsay taught us many interesting things. For example, what the parts of a fish are called, and lots of facts bout a fish’s body. We even learned that when the fish are killed for dissection it doesn’t hurt them, because they put chemicals in the water that makes them go to sleep.

Dr. Amandi showed us how to cut open a fish just right so we could find all the organs inside. Dr. Amandi and Ms. Lindsay came around the class and helped us identify the organs. They even showed us how to cut the fish’s eye and find the lens. We were surprised to find out that the fish’s lense was round instead of flat like human lenses. The round lens allows the fish to see in all directions at the same time. You can learn a lot about a fish when you dissect it.