Right before we start a new unit in grade 12 biology, we had a fetal pig dissection in this homeostasis unit.
The purpose of this dissection is to know and closely examine different body systems - Nervous system, Endocrine system and Urinary system.
This is how the lab began.
The first task was to determine the gender of our fetal pig.
We counted the number of toes and examined the inside of the mouth.
We located the taste buds on the side of the tongue
Our second task was to cut open the abdominal and thoracic cavity of the fetal pig and identify structures.
We start to see different organs after we cut open the abdomen
The third task was to isolate organs inside the abdominal cavity and observe them.
The isolation of the stomach
Here we have the biggest organ in the fetal pig - the Liver
The Spleen is a long tongue-like organ
The pancreas can be easily damaged
The small intestine consists of - duodenum, ileum, cecum
The kidneys are located in the dorsal point of the fetal pig
This is the cross-section of the kidney
Ovary
- This concludes the first day of the dissection-
Second day of fetal dissection begins
Task four, dissection of the thoracic cavity.
The diaphragm can be seen right below the chest cavity
We started cutting open the chest cavity and discovered the pair of lungs and the heart under it.
The Heart
The Cross-Section of the heart
The Thyroid gland looks like a V-shaped structure and it lies atop of the trachea
After the dissection of the Thoracic Cavity, Mr Chung gave us another task, isolate the brain off the skull.
Task five, dissection of the brain.
The skull is really hard and tough to cut open
Success!
Final task, dissection of the eye.
We had to cut away the skin and obtain the eye ball from its socket
The retina can be clearly seen after the cross-section
The fetal pig has a biconvex lens
Woah that was a long post, overall the dissection was a success and it is really interesting to see different organs up-close and examine them.