Pig Heart and Lung Dissection Procedure

A Dissection Walk Through

Lungs
1. Identify systems studied and talk about major organs
• Respiratory System – lung
• Circulatory System – heart
• Discuss how they work together

2. Structures and functions of heart and lungs

• Students identify organs they know
• Students compare specimens to human diagram

3. Have students find and touch the esophagus and trachea

• Discuss the difference between the two organs

4. Play with the epiglottis

• Use your finger to close off the epiglottis and slide a marble down
the esophagus to represent food

5. Cut across the esophagus and trachea just above the lungs

6. Blow up lungs with bike pump

• See what groups can blow up both lungs at the same time

7. Cut down the trachea to the bronchi tubes

8. Pick a bronchi and cut into bronchiole tubes

• Have students keep cutting all the way to the tip of the lung
• As students are cutting they can pick bronchiole tubes to pump up

9. Cut a cross section of the lung

• Each student can cut their own cross section to see all the
bronchiole tubes

10. Explore the lung

• Free exploration for students
Heart
11. Cut heart away from lungs

12. Indentify structures and functions

• Compare the heart to the diagram
• Discuss why the aorta is so different

13. Find the right and left side of the heart

• Discuss why the left side is larger than the right

14. Cut sides of right and left ventricles

• Have students put their finger or stick in the left ventricle and show
that their finger will come out the aorta
• Have students put their finger or stick in the right ventricle and
show that their finger will come out of the pulmonary artery

15. Cut heart open in half

• Talk about size and difference of muscles in ventricles

16. Free Exploration on heart