The Heart Dissection

Cardiovascular Dissection Lab

Please follow along with the lesson to complete the dissection.

Virtual dissection students need to pay attention to the pink/red wording in addition to everything else.

Press this if you are virtual dissection student.

Getting Ready

1. Choose a workspace, this can be indoors or out. This will be a messy project.

2. Cover your workspace with newspaper or plastic to make cleanup a breeze. You may also need to tape or weigh the material down.

3. Gather your materials: Heart, Dissection tools (does not have to be a professional set, I use old knives that are forever donated to gross jobs), paper towels, gloves. You can use a tray, but if you lay down plastic or paper then you can skip this step.

4. Make sure you set up your space and have your gloves handy.

5. It also may help to have a set of clean hands to navigate the computer while you do the dirty work.

💔 Watch the video and work through the heart. Approx. @ 8 minutes, he will switch to the human heart model. I would be holding your sheep's heart and referencing the model as he's talking.

If you do not have a helper: It helps to cover your keyboard and touch/click pad in plastic wrap so you can pause. You will want to stop and cut in sections to follow along. I have covered my entire computer and mouse in press and seal before for human dissection stuff, so there is no shame is getting plastic wrap madness.

At this point you should be done dissecting and comparing the sheep heart anatomy to the human model. You should lay your heart down and take a quick break. Remember to take off your gloves and wash your hands thoroughly.

When you come back there are questions about the dissection that need to be answered and also some instructions for a photo. Virtual folks can move on to the next slide.

Selfie Time !!!!!

Take a selfie with your heart (the example pic has a full Komodo Dragon...Awesome) and text it to me when you finish @ [phone]. Leave this as the last thing before you move on to the questions section.

Virtual folks can skip this step and can keep moving on.

Press this if you are virtual dissection student.

Cleanup, Cleanup, Everybody Clean up.

Go straight to the dumpster with ALL the heart chunks, weird juices, paper towels, gloves, table covering, et cetera in a trash bag. I clean surfaces using soap/water, then I spray some bleach cleaner and then wipe off with a plain water towel and dry it up. I also use a spray ethanol that is used in labs on lab tables, but that's just me being extra. I dispose of all my waste from cleaning in that same trash bag so that ALL of the nastiness is together. Do not throw away sharps in bags and donated knives can be cleaned with soap and water to be saved for the next dirty job. You do NOT need to use heavy antibacterial or antimicrobial soaps or detergents. This dissection stuff is very safe and does not need a high level antibiotic or anything like that.

DO NOT PUT HEART CHUNKS DOWN YOUR SINK EVER !!

Poll

How did you like the dissection step by step?

• Easy to follow and thorough.

• Fine.....ok......sure.

• Not something I would have chose for myself.

• Bruh, yikes.

• Good start and I have some constructive criticism to share.

  (*hmu on canvas for that)

Multiple Choice

Which plane of section was used for the heart to be halved?

• Transverse

• Sagittal

• Coronal

• Anterior

Multiple Choice

Did you take a sac off of your heart? If you didn't what would you have had to remove before making any cuts on the heart?

• myocardium

• endocardium

• pericardium

• ventricles

Multiple Choice

Which chambers are separated by the tricuspid valve?

• R.Atrium & L.Ventricle

• R.Atrium & R.Ventricle

• L.Atrium & R.Ventricle

• L.Atrium & L.Ventricle

Multiple Choice

Which two chambers are separated by the mitral (biscuspid) valve ?

• L.Atrium & L.Ventricle

• R.Atrium & L.Ventricle

• L.Atrium & R.Atrium

• R.Atrium & R.Ventricle

Multiple Choice

What are the small cords attached to the flaps of atrioventricular valves?

• papillary muscle

• chordae tendinae

• vaso vasorum

• dermal papillae

Fill in the Blank

The chordae tendinae are attached to both the AV valves and the papillary muscles in the heart.

The function of these connected structures is to _____________________________________.

Multiple Choice

What valve is this?

• Tricuspid

• Mitral

• Pulmonary semilunar

• Aortic semilunar

Multiple Select

Which valves lead to either the pulmonary or systemic circuit.

• Aortic semilunar valve

• Tricuspid valve

• Mitral valve

• Pulmonary semilunar valve

Multiple Choice

What is the significance of the thickness of the muscles in the ventricles?

• These chambers are very low pressure areas.

• The ventricles need to be thick to generate the force needed for high pressure; This pushes blood up and through circuits.

• Circuits are low pressure so it takes lots of muscle to keep the same low pressure.

• Muscles in the ventricles are thin compared to atria which are more forceful.

Fill in the Blank

The significance of the thickness of the aorta in comparison to the pulmonary trunk is that .......

Dissection Done ! Please make sure you dispose of your materials and send me your selfie. The rest is saved here in Quizzizz !!!

If you are a virtual student please press the audio button.

Open Ended

Why would we want to have all of our materials ready to go before doing any sort of dissection?

Open Ended

In your opinion, why was a coronal plane of section used to split the heart in half?

Open Ended

Think about colleges and medical schools that use human specimens. What are some of your immediate thoughts about issues regarding the disposal and respect of dissection specimens?

*Note: CCC only uses legitimate scientific dissection sourcing with approved disposal methods.