Anatomy and Physiology
Cat Dissection Lab Report
Purpose:
For this lab report, you will report on how your experience dissecting a cat has helped you to answer the
question: "Does cat anatomy serve as a good model for understanding human anatomy?" You will use
evidence/observations from your dissection activities as the data (results) for your report.
Directions for Writing Your Lab Report
Title:
You should have a cover page with the title of the investigation, your name, date, and class.
Each of the following sections should be labeled clearly on your lab report.
Introduction:
The introduction of your lab report should give your reader enough information to understand why you are
writing this report - you want to convince your reader that this is an interesting topic and a clear picture of
the question driving your investigation. You need to do some research to write your introduction - this is
where scientists provide the context for their study by telling the reader what other people have already
discovered. Be sure to cite references using proper APA format.

Start your introduction with some big ideas! What is dissection? What is the study of "comparative
anatomy"? What kinds of information can scientists learn from the study of "comparative
anatomy"?

And then provide some background information about the use of cats for comparative study: Is
dissecting cats in anatomy class a common practice? Why would people even consider using a cat?
What are the potential advantages?

At the end of your introduction, you will state the purpose/question driving your investigation, AND
you will make a claim about what you expected to find when you dissected the cat. Do you think
that study of the cat's external features, digestive system, urogenital system, and cardiovascular
system will serve as good models for understanding human anatomy?
Anatomy and Physiology
Methods:
In paragraph form, explain the procedures that you used to conduct the experiment. Be sure to include the
materials and tools used, and times and place where research was done. The details should be complete
enough that someone else could repeat your process. You may reference handouts used during dissections
rather than giving step by step instructions. Do not use "I" or "we" when writing procedures. When
composing a lab report, you write in past tense because you are describing what was done in the past.
Results:
The data that you collect should be presented in a very neat, easy to read format. For this lab, your data
will be observations about cat anatomy made during your dissection activities. Only include data that will
be useful to support your claim in the analysis part of the report. Data may be presented in table, graph,
written descriptions, and drawings.
In this section, only include observations- do NOT make any
interpretations or inferences about what those observations mean!
Discussion:
In your analysis, you should state whether your original claim was supported by the data or not - This
should be your first sentence. Then you explain how the data connects with what you know about human
anatomy to support your claim. You can reference your textbook, websites, or notes from Ms. Adams or
Mrs. Williams as sources for information on human anatomy. Use proper APA format for in-text citations.
Be sure you consider both similarities AND differences between cat and human anatomy in your analysis.

What evidence supports the idea that cat anatomy is similar to humans? What are likely reasons for
that similarity? (Consider evolutionary relationships, common habits, etc.)

What kind of differences do we need to keep in mind? What are possible reasons for these
differences? How might these differences still be helpful for understanding human anatomy?

What are some important limitations to using the cat as a model for human anatomy? How could a
comparison be misleading?

In conclusion, would you recommend the use of cat dissection as part of a human anatomy class? If
not, why not? (at least 2 reasons) If so, what suggestions would you give to the teacher about how
to use the cat to help students learn human anatomy. (at least 2 suggestions)
Anatomy and Physiology
References:
In addition to in-text citations, you need to include a list of references on the last page of your report. You
can find information on proper APA format at this website:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/18/
If you include any pictures in your introduction or analysis which are copied from other sources, you must
provide proper citation. You may NOT use any pictures from other sources for your results, but you may
take your own photos to include as data. Be sure to give credit to the photographer!