The Digestive System

April 14, 2015 

Focus Question: What are some parts of the stomach? 

Materials: In today's dissection, scapels were used. 

Procedure: Today, the stomach was cut at the lesser omentum and a little after the duodenum. I then cut the stomach in half to see the insides. 

Data/Observations: 

The diaphragm is not in the pictures below because it is above what was cut. 

Conclusion: Today, I learned there are many parts to the stomach. Each part is labeled above but I thought the inside was interesting. I didn't think that the rugae would be that noticeably different from the cardia. While I was opening the stomach, I was really scared to find out what was inside. My cat did have a lot of bile which made everything more yellow and smelled pretty gross. 

April 15, 2015 

Focus Question: How long are the small intestines? 

Materials: In today's dissection, scapels were used. 

Procedure: For this dissection, we took the duodenum and then cut the mesentary off the small intestines. Then we cut along the ileocecal sphincter to remove the small intestines. 

Data/Observations: 

Conclusion: I didn't think our small intestines were that long but they were longer than I thought. We didn't have the longest in the class but that's okay! I thought it was cool how the small intestines were folded into our cat. I also didn't know there was tissue connecting the small intestines together so I thought that was surprising. 

The Heart and Cardiovascular System

Focus Question: What are the parts of the heart? 

Procedure: in this dissection, incisions were made on the following dotted lines. The incisions were made under the right atrium and diagonally across under the left atrium. The bottom half was then cut in half so they were only the ventricles. The latex inside the heart was taken out using the teaser needles and scapels. 

Materials: For this dissection, scapels and teasers were used. 

Data/observation: 

The pulmonary veins and arteries are not shown in the picture below but they would be found in the yellow circled areas. 

Conclusion/reflection: Overall, I learned that the heart has many pieces to it. I thought it was cool how there was an atrium and ventricle for each side. I also thought that heart looked really cool when it was cut open.  I thought it was interesting that we needed to make a diagonal cut instead of a straight cut to separate the atria and the ventricles. I also thought it was interesting how our cat had a lot of blue dye in it's heart and very little pink. To answer the focus question, there are the superior and inferior vena cavas, left and right atria and ventricles, the aorta, and the four valves. 

Focus Question: What are the blood vessels of the cardiovascular system? 

Procedure: For this dissection, we cut through the mesh like covering over the intestines. Then we lifted the intestines and cleared up some areas in order to find some arteries and veins. 

Materials: For this dissection, scapels and teaser needles were used. 

Data/observation:

The picture above is missing the internal jugular vein, subclavian vein, the external carotid artery, the vertebral artery, the radial artery, the ulnar artery, and the axillary vein. 

Conclusion/reflection: Overall, I learned that the arteries and veins are named after regions of the body that they supply blood to. I thought that some of them were really difficult to find while others were super easy. I thought that this dissection was really cool because many other organs were identified in order to find certain vessels. 

The Lungs

Focus Question: What are the parts of the lungs?

Procedure: The first step for this dissection was cutting two incisions on the day's chest. We were supposed to cut through the costal cartilage so we could remove the sternum.  We then cut the cartilage around the trachea.  After that, we cut around the posterior lobes of the lungs slowly.  We then separated the trachea and the esophagus. After that we made a cut through the superior and inferior vena cavas of the heart. After that, we took out the respiratory organs found in the data/observation section. After that, we looked for the primary, secondary, and tertiary branches. 

The incisions are shown below in yellow dotted lines. 

Materials Used: In this dissection, we used scapels, teasers, and a microscope. 

Data/Observation: 

Below is the labeled picture of the lungs and other parts of the respiration system. 

Here is a microscopic view of the alveoli. The alveoli are the white circles. 

Reflection: There are many parts to the respiratory system that I was unaware of like the larynx. I learned that the lungs are spilt into lobes and that the heart sits in between the lungs as well. I also did not know that the windpipe was the trachea so I thought that was cool. I think my favorite part of the dissection was cutting through the costal cartilage to remove the sternum. I thought that it was really difficult figuring out what to cut around the lungs' lobes when removing it. Overall, I thought it was really interesting to see 

Worksheet: 

For the my lung presentation, I learned about TB. Tuberculosis was really interesting to me because I did not know there was a latent form and an active form. I also thought it was interesting how only the active form can sread and that it is only spread through the air. I think the part that struck me as most weird was that it can not be spread through sharing food and kissing. I thin kI learned the most about how it is spread. I also learned that the active needs more testing once a person is diagnosed with TB. For example, I did not know that the two tests that were given only detected the presence of TB in a body. 

Four Entries on the Muscles

Entry One: Exploring the Chest 

Focus Question: What muscles are in the chest of the cat? 

Procedure: For this dissection, we cut our cat along the medial line.  Then we cut her chest muscles, the dotted lines below show the incision. 

We also cut another incision below the pectoralis minor. 

 

Materials Used: We used the scapels and booklet to help us cut the cat. We also used an iPhone to take pictures. 

Data/Observation: 

Human Muscles 

Reflection: During the dissection of the chest muscles, I learned that the cat and human aren't super similar.  The cat has muscles like the pectoantebrachialis and the Xiphihumeralis. The cat's Serratus Veratus is synonymous to the human's Serratus Anterior. The actual dissection of the muscles was a little tricky.  We were really careful because we didn't want to cut too deep. The Serratus Ventralis and the External Intercostals were also a little confusing because we thought the Serratus Ventralis was too thick when we cut it. 

Entry Two: Seeing the Abdomen 

Focus Question: What muscles are in the abdomen of the cat? 

Procedure: The first step we took before dissecting was cutting off the mammary tissue. After we cleaned that up, we saw the linea alba and the exterior oblique. We then cut along the dotted line that can be seen in the picture below. 

Materials Used: The materials used were scapels, the book with instructions on how to cut, and an iPhone(for pictures.) 

Data/Observation: 

Human Muscles: 

Reflection: In this dissection, we looked at the abdomen muscles. At first, we couldn't see any of the muscles because Oreo had a lot of mammary tissue. After we cut that off, we were finally able to see her muscles. While dissecting, I learned that the cat and human have the same muscles in the abdomen area. I also learned that underneath the External and Internal Oblique muscles are the Transverse Abdominus.  I also learned that the Linea Alba is really thin. While dissecting, I thought that the Linea Alba was just a lot of connective tissue. I also thought that the Rectus Abdominus couldn't be seen in any of the pictures, so I decided to draw it. I know that it is under the Linea Alba. 

Entry Three: Visting the Muscles of the Forearm, Arm, Back, and Shoulder 

Focus Question: What are the muscles of the forearm, arm, back, and shoulder? 

Procedure: For this part, we cut along the incision lines shown in the pictures below. 

Materials Used: For this dissection, we used scapels, the booklet, and an iPhone. 

Data/Observation: 

Human Muscles:

Reflection: In this part of the dissection, I learned that the ventral and dorsal of the forearms are different form each other. I initially thought they were the same muscles. I also thought it was interesting how the cat had more muscles than the human since we only have one trapezius and deltoid. I think the shoulder and back were probably the hardest part of dissecting this section. 

Entry Four: Discovering the Leg and Thigh Muscles

Focus Question: What are the muscles of the legs and thighs?

Procedure: We cut along the dotted lines in the pictures below. 

Materials Used: We continued using the book, the scapels, and an iPhone. 

Data/Observation:

Human Muscles:

Reflection: The leg muscles were a little confusing but we did most of it by looking at the book. I think the most confusing part was figuring out the superficial muscles. I also felt like dissecting was easier.