Students recently discovered that a cucumber can be much more than a healthy snack.
In Jenna Steenson’s Anatomy & Physiology class at Pius X, with careful cuts, toothpicks, and paper labels, these juniors and seniors transformed the ordinary green vegetable into a stand-in for a frog, demonstrating their ability to follow complex anatomical and medical directions.
The lab activity, known as Cucumbers to Frogs, challenges students to move beyond rote memorization and into practical application. Instead of looking at diagrams or step-by-step illustrations, students receive only verbal and written instructions. From there, they must slice their cucumbers with precision and assemble the pieces into a recognizable frog structure.
“Students are tasked with interpreting anatomical language and medical language to turn a cucumber into a frog sculpture,” Steenson explained. “So students have to make particular cuts and assemble it in a special way without any pictures at all.”
In other words, the cucumbers become a test of both creativity and comprehension. A misplaced slice can mean the difference between a convincing frog replica and a pile of cucumber pieces. For students, the project is part puzzle, part lab, and part culinary art. Laughter often fills the classroom as groups hold up their toothpick creations and compare notes on whether their “frogs” actually resemble the intended design.
But the fun serves a deeper purpose. By working through the process of interpreting medical and anatomical language, students strengthen skills that are critical for future careers in health care, science, or medicine. It also helps them learn to think flexibly when presented with unfamiliar tasks—a skill that carries over well beyond the classroom.
“I really like this activity because it gives the students a chance to really demonstrate their abilities of understanding basic anatomy terms,” Steenson said.
The Cucumbers to Frogs activity is just one example of how the Pius X Science Department incorporates inquiry-based learning into its curriculum. The department emphasizes laboratory experiences designed to promote critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. These courses not only build scientific literacy but also encourage students to see the connections between what they study and the real world.
Through their four years of science classes, students begin with a solid background in biology, chemistry, and physics. From there, they can pursue advanced studies, including Anatomy & Physiology and AP courses.
