The use of animals in biology education: Motivation and challenges

Organisms provide opportunities to engage students and create diverse learning experiences. Among these, human care and treatment of animals can be one of the most important aspects of biology education, which includes a wide range of observational and experimental guidelines; At the same time, encourage and prepare students to continue their studies in biology and medicine. Extracurricular studies such as taking care of animals at home and visiting zoological parks also provide an opportunity to teach animal behavioral, morphological, ecological, and evolutionary principles that are not necessarily found in textbooks but can enhance the content of the books. And at the same time encourage further study and thoughtful reflection. The present review study uses articles from Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct; between 1980 and 2021, and the keywords education of biology, animals, experiments, and ethics. The purpose of this article is to introduce, in addition to introducing the benefits of using animals in biology education, the ethical considerations of experimenting on living animals and raising conscious and healthy individuals who value and respect living organisms.