How do I Compare Frog Blood Cells & Human Blood Cells?

Human beings have many similarities to the green amphibian frogs. Both species have brains, livers, hearts, kidneys, lungs and a skeletal system. As with humans, frogs have a body divided into three distinct parts. Both frogs and humans have a head, neck and a trunk. Frogs move by means of striated muscles attached to the skeletal system. Humans move the same way. Blood cells in frogs, although performing similar functions, differ from those of humans.

Instructions

1. Study the function of blood in both humans and frogs. In both frogs and humans the blood serves to bring oxygen to the other cells and organs of the body and remove waste from the other cells and organs.

2. Investigate the hearts of both humans and frogs and you will see a major difference in the anatomy. Both hearts have two upper chambers known as atria, but frogs only have one lower chamber known as a ventricle where humans have two ventricles. The heart is the blood pumping station of the body in both humans and frogs.

3. Learn the four main components of human blood. They are red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets and plasma, the fluid in which the other components of the blood live.

4. Look at a picture of a frog’s red blood cell next to a human’s. The first thing you will notice is that a frog’s cell is larger and has a bulge in the center. This is because a frog’s red blood cells contain a nucleus that carries all the genetic information needed to make new cells by replication. Human red blood cells contain no nuclei because they reproduce differently than frog.

5. Find the platelets in the human cells. Platelets are used for clotting the blood. This is helpful because if you cut yourself, without the platelets, you could bleed to death. Frogs do not have platelets. They have a protein in their blood called fibrogen that works to help blood coagulate.

Tips & Warnings

• Many libraries have slides of various types of blood and the type of microscope you need to use to see all the parts of the cell.

• Never touch blood if you do not know where it came from.

References

• Great Scopes: Observing Frog’s Blood
• Lookd: Information and Facts on the Anatomy of Amphibians
• Laboratory Experiments: Blood Cells
• Biology: Samples