Names: _____________________________________________________
Sheep heart dissection Lab
Purpose of this lab: To review the structural characteristics of the human heart and to
examine the major features of a mammalian heart.
Procedure:
***One of you should be the scribe to write answers to the questions A-E and label the
diagram on page 3 as you dissect. You can switch halfway through.
1. Feel the heart. Which is the left side?
• It should feel firmer and more muscular
Place the heart in a dissecting tray with its ventral surface up (more rounded side).
Identify the location of the following:
€
right atrium
€
right ventricle
€
left atrium
€
left ventricle
€
coronary arteries
A) Why is the right atrium on the left side of the page?
______________________________________________________________________
2. Examine the dorsal surface of the heart. Locate the stumps of two relatively thin-
walled blood vessels that enter the right atrium. Demonstrate this connection by
passing a slender probe through them. The upper vessel is the
superior vena cava
, and
the lower one is the
inferior vena cava
.
B) Where does the superior vena cava connect the heart to? ___________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. Open the
right atrium
. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Insert a blade of the scissors into the
superior vena cava
and cut downward
through the atrial wall.
b. Open the chamber, locate the
tricuspid valve,
between the right atrium and
ventricle and examine its cusps.
