2015 Chicken Leg Dissection
Carefully read through the chicken leg dissection procedure below.
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Put on a pair of gloves.
Place the chicken leg on a paper plate.
Observe the skin, this is epithelial tissue.
Peel the skin towards the base of the leg and pull it off.
Observe the shiny connective tissue; it is called fascia.
Observe the feather bumps and capillaries on the skin.
Look for fatty tissue on the leg.
Observe the meat, which is made of skeletal muscles. The muscles work in bundles. Flex and
extend the leg. Identify opposing muscle pairs.
9. Cut around the bone at the base of the leg, exposing several tendons.
10. Locate the Achilles tendon at the back of the ankle. It attaches the
muscles of the calf to the heel bone, and is one of the strongest tendons
in the body.
11. Take one tendon and follow it to its muscle belly. Cut only the
connective tissue, not the meat.
12. Isolate as many muscle bellies as you can by separating them carefully with
your fingers.
13. Strip all of the meat from the bone.
14. Locate the femur, tibia, and fibula.
15. Examine the joint found in the middle of the leg. What kind is it?
16. Remove the patella.
17. Examine the cartilage. Recall its function.
18. Cut through the joint and find the ligaments.
19. Observe the periosteum, which covers and protects bone.
20. Carefully remove the cartilage. Observe the bone underneath the cartilage.
21. Try to locate the red marrow in the spongy bone.
22. Look for holes in the bone where blood vessels can enter.
23. Using the bone shears cut the tibia in the center. Observe the yellow
marrow and layer of compact bone.
CLEAN UP:
Wrap the chicken leg in the newspaper and throw it away.
WASH AND DRY ALL UTENSILS.
WASH THE TABLE.
WASH YOUR HANDS.
1. Draw and label the diagram of the chicken leg in your journal.
**USE COMPLETE SENTENCES TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS**
2. Describe the outer appearance of the chicken leg.
3. What type of tissue makes up the outer skin of the chicken leg?
4. What is the function of the skin?
skin – epithelial tissue
thigh
lower leg
5. Observe the narrow blood vessels underneath the skin. What type of blood
vessels are they?
6. Describe the fascia, the connective tissue underneath the layer of
skin?
7. What do you think its function is?
connective tissue = fascia
fat deposits
muscle
8. Describe the fatty tissue. What do you think its function is?
9. What two types of joints would you find in the chicken leg?
10. What are the names of the four bones that you would find in the
chicken leg?
11. Describe the muscles of the chicken leg.
12. How is the muscle tissue arranged?
13. Describe the appearance of the tendons.
14. What is the function of this type of connective tissue?
15. What type of connective tissue would you find in the knee joint?
16. What is its function?
patella
hinge joint
17. Describe the cartilage.
18. What is its function?
19. Identify two places you would find cartilage in the chicken leg.
20. Observe the spongy bone at the far right in the picture below. What would you find
here, and what does it produce?
Identify the terms that are described below:
1. fibers that contract and relax to allow body movement
2. an elastic tube through which blood circulates
3. dense part of bone
4. connects bones together
5. protective covering on the bone
6. covers the ends of bones at joints to reduce friction
7. connects bone to muscle
8. a connection between two or more bones
9. important storage form of energy, insulates and cushions
10. type of bone found at ends containing hollow spaces
11. produces red and white blood cells
12. stores fat
13. mineral needed for strong bones
14. skin is this type of tissue
15. the largest tendon in the leg