Chicken Leg Dissection

In our Science class, we did some thing really different and that is dissecting a chicken leg. It was really fun and here are the aim, materials, and how we keep our self safe.

Aim: We will locate and describe the various tissues and structures of drumstick and thigh of a chicken.

Materials: Chicken drumstick, dissecting probe, scalpel, dissecting scissors, paper towels,forceps, dissecting tray, gloves,disinfection hand wash and spray.

Safety: 

1. You have to wear gloves.

2. Do not put anything in your mouth (fingers, pens, etc) during the dissection. Also be careful with the tools you're using, because their ends are very sharp and you might hurt yourself if you're are being silly. 

3. Wash your hands thoroughly at the end of the dissection with antibacterial soap and hot water. Also we need to ensure your hands are dried after washing.

4. After doing the dissection, spray surfaces with antibacterial soap. 

Procedure.

1. Place the chicken leg and on the dissecting tray, and examine the exterior features. The outer layer is called the epidermis also known as the skin, and the bumps covering the skin are where the feathers were attached.

2. We have to carefully pull the skin off by sliding it down and off the lower leg. The large muscle at the back of the leg is the same as your gastrocnemius . It also includes two bones -the tibia ( the larger one ) and fibula the thinner,smaller one. 

3. The muscle of the leg, like all muscles work in bundles. Separate a bundle of muscle by inserting your thumb into the muscle of the lower leg, you will notice that the muscle bundle is covered in a silvery lining called the fascia and this makes it hard to separate. But if you push hard enough you will tear it and find that separating muscle bundle is a lot easier. 

4. Using the dissection scissors, cut across the tendons that join the muscle to the bone. Be careful not cut any ligaments that attach bones to bone. You should end up with all the bones still attached to each other, but not muscle tissue present. 

5. Then break one bone in half and examine the marrow. This is where blood cells are made.

Bone: Our bones help us protect the important organs in your body such as the heart, brain, etc and provide a framework for our body.

Muscle - Muscle are the only tissue in the body that has the ability to contract and therefore move the other part of the body.  

Tendon - This attach muscles to bones, the Achilles tendon which is a strong fibrous that connects the muscle to muscle in the back of your calf to your heel bone. 

Ligament - This attach bones to bones.