Lab Dissection Offers Lessons from the Heart

Room 121 of the Schiavone Science Center was filled with curiosity and intrigue as seventh-grade students took part in a hands-on lab activity, in which they became more familiar with the anatomical structure of the human heart by observing, dissecting, and identifying the parts of a pig heart.

Over the semester with Middle School science teacher Aidan Clark-Long, the students have been investigating the systems of the human body and discussing the intricacies and importance of the circulatory system and its various structures. As the heart is the central organ of the circulatory system, Mr. Clark-Long introduced students to the pig heart as it is very similar to a human heart. Both organs contain four chambers and are similar in size.

“As we have conducted different labs related to our unit of study, students were able to explore the most important muscle in the body during our dissection,” said Mr. Clark-Long. “They bravely stepped up to the occasion and had a blast playing the role of a surgeon.”

 

With the dissection on the horizon, the students donned eye goggles and gloves and began first by observing the pig heart by making note of its design and external structure. The groups quickly made work of identifying the pericardium, the left and right atria, left and right ventricles, the aorta, the coronary and pulmonary artery, and veins. Using a scapple, one student in each group gently cut their way through the wall of the right ventricle. Once the cut was deep enough to go through the wall of the chamber, the student carefully pushed open the heart and examined the internal structure. 

 

For a more hands-on approach, the students used their fingers to feel the thickness and texture of the ventricle lining. The students continued their open examination of the structures to better understand the path of blood through the heart and its overall function and purpose to the circulatory system.

 

The class finished up with cleaning and properly discarding the pig hearts. Mr. Clark-Long instructed the students to identify and describe the functions of the structures in a follow-up question packet for the activity.