By Diane Prokop

Times Staff Writer

What do you get when you put a Chihuahua, a Great Dane, a black-and-white short-hair tabby cat and more than a dozen teenagers in one room?

Connie Meyer's Biology 2 Vet Tech Lab at Archbishop Ryan High School.

The whole purpose of Biology 2, a senior elective, is to expose students to various aspects of different medical careers including nursing, veterinary technician, radiologist and nurse anesthetist, according to Meyer, who has taught at Ryan for 33 years.

The popular class is the only one of its kind in the Philadelphia archdiocese. The course was instituted in 1994, when the school was trying to come up with a course for second- and third-track biology students who didn't want to go on to advanced math.

Parents of students brought family pets to school last week to help students learn about animal care and biology.

Animals are stationed around the biology lab and the teens rotate among stations. Students fill out patient information forms for the animals just as they'd do if working at a vet's office - the pet's name and age, whether it's spayed or neutered, and record their evaluation of the animal's eyes, nose, note any lumps or bumps, and jot down the patient's medical history, heart rate and respiratory rate.

"It's not as easy as it looks. If the dogs are panting, they can't get a good reading," she said of the students. "I show them on a stuffed animal. It's nothing like the real thing."

In addition, students are required to write lab reports, including the creation of a charts based on the sizes of the animals. The information helps them understand the correlation of an animal's heart rate, respiration and size.

"It's their favorite lab," Meyer said.

She considers the lab important to introduce this education to students in high school, and some, Meyer noted, have gone on to become certified veterinary technicians.

"Kids really like it," she said.

Technology has revolutionized learning to some extent. But Meyer believes there is one thing that hasn't changed in all her years of teaching.

"Even with all the technology, they like hands-on," she said of the students' ability to work directly with animals in the lab. "They actually get excited."

For more photos, visit http://www.archbishopryan.com/photos/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=32

Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com