Cow Eye Dissection
Today in class we did a cow eye dissection. We cut it open and we got to see the Iris, cornea, retina, tapetum, and the pupil. This was the first dissection I have ever done, I found it very fascinating. The cow’s eye was very different from what I expected it to be. The eye ball were covered in fat and muscles. The cornea was also very thick and was hard to cut off, though you had to cut it off to see the iris. The other thing that I saw that was really interesting was the optic nerve were the retina attaches to the sclera.
This was the first time I did a dissection and I was not quiet sure what to expect. Personally I think it was a really good experience and I would defiantly do it again. At first I thought it was going to be really hard to do, but once I sat down and started working it was easier then I expected. It was really cool being able to see the inside of cows eye and to see all the pieces working together to make us be able to see.
The first thing we did was to cut off all the fat around the eye ball so that you could actually see the eye. After removing the fat and muscle you would cut out the cornea with a scalpel. It was hard to do this because you had to make sure you won’t cut yourself and apply enough force to actually break into the cornea. I pulled the iris out so that I could see the dilator muscle and the sphincter muscle. Once the iris comes out you can see the Virtuous Humor and the lens. I squeezed the eye ball and the Virtuous Humor squirted out a long with the Lens. The lens was more round and when you cut it open it was like an onion.
During this project we learned about a lot of new and different tools. Some of the tools that we got to use were called Probes, Scissors, Scalpel, and tweezers. Probes are long stick like stabbers tools which help separate thin pieces away. Scissors are pretty self explanatory, they are a little bit smaller and had smaller blades. The scalpel which is a very sharp knife like tools which could take off a finger. The last tool was the tweezers which we did not really use a lot. I was exciting getting to learn and use new tools.
I am really glad I got a chance to do a dissection in middle school because some people don’t get a chance to do this until high school or college. At first I thought the dissection was going to be gross but I ended up enjoying it a lot. I learned so much from this experience and I would love to do it again. I’m not quiet sure I would do a full animal dissection like a chicken or a cat but maybe something smaller like a sheep heart.
