Heart Dissection/ Heart Labeling Test

On Valentines Day, we were assigned a lab to dissect different hearts, this way we can see the difference in size, and the thickness of the heart walls for different animals. We dissected three different hearts, a sheep, pig, and cow heart. Obviously they were all different sizes, but I will add pictures and dimensions as well. I lost my pictures, but I asked Tiffany, since we both did the same lab and had the same dimensions she said it would be fine if I used her pictures since I am doing a separate blog. I will label the dimensions of the different parts of the heart, for each heart we dissected.

Cow Heart:

Right Atrium: Diameter 3.1 cm

Right Ventricle: 2.9 cm

Right Outer Wall: Thickness 1.6 cm

Aorta: 2.3 cm

Pulmonary Trunk: 3.1 cm

Left Atrium: Diameter 4.7 cm

Left Ventricle: Diameter 3.1 cm

Left Outer Wall: Thickness 3.3 cm

Pig Heart

Right Atrium: Diameter 3 cm

Right Outer Wall: Thickness .5 cm

Aorta: 2.5 cm

Left Atrium: Diameter 5 cm

Left Ventricle: Diameter  5.7 cm

Left Outer Wall: Thickness 1 1/4 cm

Sheep Heart

Right Atrium: Diameter 4 cm

Valve: Diameter .5 cm

Right Outer Wall: Thickness 1.2 cm

Aorta: 1.6 cm

Left Atrium: Diameter 4 cm

Left Outer Wall: Thickness 2 cm

Left Ventricle: Diameter 1.3 cm

As you can tell, each heart will be bigger for the bigger animal, this is because there is more blood that needs to be pumped through the body, and more blood will go through the heart faster. Therefore, the cow heart has thicker walls than the human, sheep, or pig heart. The circulatory system easily plays one of the most important roles in any living organism. 

I used a youtube video in my last blog, and I am going to use another one from the same guy. He is very knowledgable, detailed, and gets straight to the point when it comes to the topic for his videos. The video is called How Blood Flows Through the Heart. I highly recommend watching this video if you are interested in further details about the circulatory system. 

This is the heart test we were assigned in class. Even though this is Tiffany's picture, I got the OK from her to use it because we took a test and did a lab on the same topic. I also had to memorize the same parts on the heart. We were told to memorize as many parts as you can about the human heart, and label them on the picture. I got a 100%!! I was very happy and thought I did good memorizing 22 parts in about 15 minutes. The human heart is truly amazing! I would have had no idea that the heart had so many parts, but anatomy class has transformed me into an educated man! 

As you can see in the picture, all of the parts are labeled, but don't really explain how exactly the circulatory system works(steps). So, I found the best already created website I could for you so you can read it if you are willing to learn about the steps for the circulatory system. The only reason I didn't create a blog on how the circulatory system works is because to be completely honest, I am not 100% sure, or a medical professional so I will leave it to them to guide you through the steps. The page is actually called Introduction to the Circulatory System.