Chicken Leg Dissection Lab

       Examine the outside skin tissue. Record at least 4 observations of the chicken skin.

                      a)  Skin as small pores where the feathers once were.

                      b)  The skin is loose from the muscle with shiny thin matter between the skin and muscle

                      c)  The skin has a tacky texture

                     d)  At end of leg bone the knuckle is pearl white in color.

      Using scissors, knife, and tweezers, work slowly and carefully to cut the skin and peel it away from the muscle below. Notice the clear connective tissue that holds the skin to the muscles.  The probe may be the most effective tool. As you peel off the skin, you may need to cut away some connective tissue.

      Record at least 4 observations of connective tissue

                     a)  Connective tissue is very shiny

                     b)  Encases the muscle

                     c)  Tissue is tacky

                     d)  Clear in color

      What specific type of connective tissue is this?

                          The connective tissue of the chicken leg is the dermis.

      Observe the yellowish clumps of fat tissue found outside the skin. Record at least 2 observations of the fat.

                       a)  There was no fat present

      What is the biological term for the type of cells that store fat?

                          Adipocytes is the biological term for a type of cell that stores fat.

      Name at least 2 functions of this fat.

                  a.       The tissue stores energy in the form of fat within the adipocytes.

                  b.      The Adipocytes mobilizes energy sources

      Observe bundles of muscle tissue surrounding the bones. Separate the bundles of muscles by separating them out with your fingers. Begin by inserting your thumb into the muscle by pushing through the connective tissue covering the muscle. It will give way at the natural separations between the muscle bundles.

      Viewing through a magnifying tool, if you have one, (but still do if you don’t) describe 2 characteristics of the arrangement of the muscle bundles as you see them here.

      First bundle was 3” long and 1” wide.  At one end is a tendon connecting to the next muscle. 

      Second  bundle was 3” long and 2” wide. Tendons were visible running through the muscle. 

 

     Using your textbook or another reference, sketch a representation of the muscles starting with the muscle cell and ending with the whole muscle. Cite your source!

      What type of muscle tissue are you viewing?

                 Fascicles which are stringy muscle fibers.

      Name the function of this type of muscle tissue.

               It moves the skeleton and is responsible for all our voluntary movements.  The muscle 
               fascicles bundle muscle fibers together for extra strength, allowing the muscle to exert more 
               force.
  

      Name 2 two characteristics of this muscle tissue.

               a.       Have multiple nuclei

               b.      Striated

            

      Nerves are thin, threadlike, white strands found between the muscle and the nearest bone. Remove a single muscle by cutting the tendons and peeling the muscle away from the bone. Look for the nerve in your specimen. The texture is much different from a tendon or bone. It is rather slippery. Did you find one? 

    

      The strong, shiny, white cords of tendons hold the muscle to the bones. Some of these tendons pulled away from the bone as you separated the muscle bundles. 

Observe with a magnifying tool, if you have one, describe, and sketch

              a.       the attachment of tendon to muscle is flexible and white color

          b.       the attachment of the tendon to bone is stiff and white in color not as fixable as to the muscle.

        Cut across the tendons at the elbow and peel back toward the carpal joint as if you were peeling a banana. Observe the numerous tendons and pull the freed muscles down and away from the bone. Don't cut any ligaments that attach bone to bone.

   Unable to do since my dissection was of a chicken leg.

   Look closely at the ligaments with a magnifying tool. Describe 2 differences in appearance between        tendons and ligaments.

              a)  Tendons are shiny and flexible than ligaments

             b)  With the ligament it attaches firmly to the bone

  What type of connective tissue composes the ligaments?

                Dense regular fibrous connective tissues.  They contain collagen arranged in parallel fibers.

     Remove all remaining muscle to expose the bones of the chicken leg.

 

              Bend the elbow. Refer to pages 113-115 in your textbook and answer these questions.

                    a.       What type of joint is this? (.5 point)

                          Hinge Joint allows the elbow to bend.

                    b.      What type of movement is being demonstrated?

                         Offers ease in movement but only provides for movement in one plane like the hing of
                         a door.   This allows Flexion/Extension

          Cut into the elbow joint and separate the ulna and radius from the metacarpals.  Observe the shiny white layer covering the ends of the bones. Name this covering according to its primary tissue and specific type.

Primary tissue are called connective tissue and specific type is Tendons

           Describe the texture of the ends of the bones at the joint.

a)  On a chicken leg one end of the leg is called the knuckle.  It has a pearl white color and tends to hold more bone marrow then the other parts.  On the other end there are several small bones resembling Phalanges (toe bones)

            Name three functions of bone.

                 Mechanical (ie Support & Movement), Protection (ie rib cage protects vital organs),  Metabolic (ie. Bones serve as a reservoir for calcium and phosphorus, essential minerals for various cellular activities throughout the body.)

              If you could see inside the bone. What soft material would you find? Do not break the raw
        chicken  bone. There is danger from bone fragments flying out. 

                   Yellow bone marrow called collagen

            Name three specific types of cells present here.

                     Chondroblasts, Osteoblasts, Osteocytes, Osteoclasts

The above photo is the final dissection in their individual pieces.