Video/Photos: Educators and Students Hail New Dissectible ‘Kind Frog’ From TeachKind Science
For Immediate Release:
March 17, 2025
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
A silicone-based dissection model called Kind FrogTM is transforming science education—and it’s a hit with educators and students who have praised it as a “gamechanger,” “humane,” “practical,” and “a nice way to see inside and get the experience without harming others.” The new teaching tool—created by TeachKind Science, PETA’s humane education division—has teachers marveling at its realism and requesting enough Kind Frogs to give thousands of students a hands-on dissection experience without the cruelty and the mess of using real frogs. Photos and videos of educators and students using Kind Frog are here, here, and here. Interviews with TeachKind Science staff are available.
Since launching the Kind Frog in the fall, TeachKind Science has given away more than seven thousand Kind Frogs to educators at science teacher conferences and when they sign up for the pilot program. Hundreds have also been ordered for high school and college classrooms around the country for the spring semester.
Designed by teachers, for teachers, the Kind Frog includes anatomically correct color-coded organs, a complete female reproductive system, easy formaldehyde-free setup and cleanup, and accompanying teacher’s guide and student worksheets. Educators have been gasping at the Kind Frog’s realistic anatomy (“It felt like a real dissection!”), praising its appeal to students (“They like seeing that animals are treated with respect and things are done in an ethical and humane manner”) and impressed by its affordability. While a preserved dead frog might cost $19.50, TeachKind Science offers the Kind Frogs FREE through a pilot program or for just $5 each.
Teachers also reported that students were grateful for not having the “gross factor,” that they were “actually relieved [to] not dissect a once-living animal,” that they “really enjoyed” it and preferred the model “over a real animal”—and one self-described “animal lover” even shared that the Kind Frog was not a hard decision for her to use in her classroom, as she wanted to “teach students that there are other ways to learn that don’t involve hurting animals.” Finally, an educator shared that the Kind Frog was “the perfect specimen to learn anatomy and physiology…and it shows the students there are alternative ways to solve problems that are still effective and even better than old ways [that] can be so harmful.” She thanked PETA for “investing in this venture and for letting our school and students be a part of this new way of life for ALL!”
“The Kind Frog is hopping to the rescue of real frogs, millions of whom are used in dissection each year,” says PETA Vice President Rachelle Owen. “TeachKind Science is taking the cruelty, hassle, and mess out of animal dissection, and the outstanding feedback we’ve received shows just how much this humane option is needed.”
Instructing children to cut open animals teaches them that living, feeling beings are disposable—which is a harmful lesson, especially considering the increase in incidents of cruelty to animals perpetrated by juveniles and an epidemic of school bullying. Animal dissection traumatizes students who are forced to dissect animals for a grade, can discourage them from pursuing careers in science, exposes them to harmful chemicals like formaldehyde and formalin, disrupts ecosystems, and contributes to the decline of frog populations.
In contrast, students who have tried the Kind Frog have raved about it, saying, “I definitely do feel way better cutting into silicone than a previously living being,” and “It was a lot cleaner and a lot less stinky than dissection with real animals.”
TeachKind Science—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to experiment on”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit TeachKind.org or follow the group on Facebook or Instagram.
