Biology 30S
Name
Pig Heart Dissection
Objective
Using a pork heart, students will observe the major chambers, valves, and vessels of the heart
and be able to describe the circulation of blood through the heart to the lungs and back and out
to the rest of the body. (The pig heart is used because it is very similar to the human heart
in structure, size, & function.)
Review the diagram below and familiarize yourself with all of the structures and the blood path
through the heart.
Head and neck
Trunk and legs
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
1
Materials:
Preserved pork heart.
Dissection scissors (sharp tip)
Pins
Dissecting Apron
Safety glasses
Dissection tray
probe
ruler
laminated flags/labels
Part 1: Procedure – External Anatomy
Most heart diagrams show the left atrium and ventricle on the right side of the diagram. Imagine
the heart in the body of a person facing you. The left side of their heart is on their left, but since
you are facing them, it is on your right. As you progress through the dissection, write the
bolded labels onto the paper labels. Near the end of the external observation and again near
the end of the internal dissection, you will be asked to place these labels on your heart. Your
groups’ ability to do this correctly both times will constitute 10 marks of your lab.
1. Place both hearts in a dissecting pan & rinse off the excess blood with tap water. Pat the
heart dry. (This step may not be necessary)
2. Examine the heart and locate the thin membrane or pericardium that still covers it. The
pericardium or pericardial sac, is a double-layered closed sac that surrounds the heart and
anchors it. The pericardium is a sac continuous to where the vessels enter or leave the
heart.
3. Locate the lower two chambers (ventricles) of the heart.
4. Locate the tip of the heart or the apex. Only the left ventricle
extends all the way to the apex.
5. Place the heart in the dissecting pan so that the front or
ventral side is towards you (The major blood vessels are
on the top and the apex is down). The front of the heart is
recognized by a groove that extends from the right side of
the broad end of the heart diagonally to a point above & to
your left of the apex.
6. The heart is now in the pan, in the position it would be
in a body as you were facing that body.
BE SURE YOUR TEACHERS HAS CONFIRMED THE ORIENTATION (VENTRAL/FRONT)
OF YOUR HEART BEFORE LABELING.
7. Label the following on the exterior of the heart:
a. Left atrium - upper chamber to your right
b. Left ventricle - lower chamber to your right
c. Right atrium - upper chamber to your left
d. Right ventricle - lower chamber to your left
2
8. While the heart is still in this position in the dissecting pan, locate the following blood
vessels at the broad end (superior aspect/top) of the heart and label them:
a. Coronary artery - this blood vessel lies in the groove on the front of the heart & it
branches over the front & the back side of the heart to supply fresh blood with
oxygen & nutrients to the heart muscle itself.
b. Pulmonary artery - this blood vessel branches & carries blood to the lungs to
receive oxygen & can be found curving out of the right ventricle (upper chamber to
your left)
c. Aorta - major vessel located near the right atria & just behind the pulmonary
arteries to the lungs. Locate the curved part of this vessel known as the aortic
arch. Branching from the aortic arch is a large artery that supplies blood to the
upper body.
d. Pulmonary veins - these vessels return oxygenated blood from the right & left
lungs to the left atrium (upper chamber on your right)
e. Inferior & Superior Vena Cava - these two blood vessels are located on your left
of the heart and connect to the right atrium (upper chamber on your left).
Deoxygenated blood enters the body through these vessels into the right receiving
chamber. Use your probe to feel down into the right atrium. These vessels do not
contain valves to control blood flow.
Place your labels on the external anatomy of the heart. Let the teacher know this is done so it
can be evaluated. DO NOT START DISSECTING THE UNLABELED HEART UNTIL THIS
EVALUATION IS DONE.
Part 2: Procedure – Internal Anatomy
1. Insert your dissecting scissors into the superior vena cava
and make an incision down through the wall of the right atrium
and ventricle, as shown by the dotted line in the external heart
picture. Pull the two sides apart and look for three flaps of
membrane. These membranes form the tricuspid valve
between the right atrium and the right ventricle. The membranes
are connected to flaps of muscle called the papillary muscles
by tendons called the chordae tendinae or "heartstrings." This
valve allows blood to enter the ventricle from the atrium, but
prevents backflow from the ventricle into the atrium.
Gently pull on the chordae tendinae to see how they move the
valves.
2. Insert your probe into the pulmonary artery and see it come
through to the right ventricle (recall blood direction is right
ventricle to the pulmonary artery). Make an incision down through this artery and look inside it
for three small membranous pocket-like structures. These form the pulmonary semilunar
valve which prevents blood from flowing back into the right ventricle.
3
3. Insert your dissecting scissors into the left atrium at the base
of the aorta and make an incision down through the wall of the
left atrium and ventricle, as shown by the dotted line in the
external heart picture. Locate the mitral valve (or bicuspid
valve) between the left atrium and ventricle.

Is this valve also controlled by papillary muscles connected
to tendons?______
4. Insert a probe into the aorta and observe where it connects to
the left ventricle. Make an incision up through the aorta and
examine the inside carefully for three small membranous pocketlike structures. These form the aortic semilunar valve which prevents blood from flowing back
into the left ventricle.
Place your labels on the internal anatomy of the heart. Let the teacher know this is done so it
can be evaluated.
Part 3 – Blood Flow
Now consider all the parts you've found and how the blood flows through them.
In the list of structures below, correctly colour each arrow (blue for deoxygenated blood and red
for oxygenated blood) to indicate the type of blood flowing between the structures:
Blood from the tissues
right atrium
tricuspid valve
semilunar valve
left atrium
superior and inferior vena cava
pulmonary artery
right ventricle pulmonary
lungs
bicuspid (mitral) valve
aortic semilunar valve
aorta
pulmonary veins
left ventricle
body tissue.
4
Part 4 – Diagrams
Label the following diagrams to test your knowledge of heart anatomy.
EXTERNAL ANATOMY
5
INTERNAL ANATOMY – RIGHT SIDE OF THE HEART
6
INTERNAL ANATOMY – LEFT SIDE OF HEART
http://www.hometrainingtools.com/misc/Heart4Blank.pdf
Use as alternative to wet lab
http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/class/bio202/heart/anthrt.htm
7
Pork Heart Dissection Marking Rubric
External
Labels
Internal
Labels
Work
Ethic
Questions
Diagrams
All structures successfully labelled (8 marks)
 One error in labels (7 marks)
 Two errors in labels (6 marks)
 More than two errors in labels (5)
 All structures successfully labelled (8 marks)
 One error in labels (7 marks)
 Two errors in labels (6 marks)
 More than two errors in labels (5)
 Treats specimen respectfully, makes careful cuts, take time to study structures, strong effort in
attending to labels. Clean up is thorough, utensils washed and replaced as expected. Uses the
right tool for the job (10 marks)
 Treats specimen with respect, makes careful cuts, takes time to study structures, some
recklessness either in comments or treatment of specimen. Thorough clean-up, utensils washed
and replaced as expected. Uses the right tool for the job (8 marks)
 Treats specimen with respect, cuts require greater care and attention to detail is required. No
inappropriate comments. Clean up may not have been thorough (utensils washed but not replaced
or replaced unwashed). May have used a tool inappropriately but not disrespectfully (6 marks)
 Specimen needs to be treated more respectfully. Recklessness noted in dissection. Inattention
to detail OR inattention to clean up and inattention to proper tool usage. (4 marks)
 Specimen treated with disrespect. Recklessness in dissection. Inattention to detail & clean up.
(0 marks)
 All questions completed correctly. (4 marks)
 One or two errors in questions. (3 marks)
 One or two questions not attempted. (2 marks)
 Questions are answered poorly – require more complete sentences. (1 marks)
 Too many omissions or not done. (0 marks)
 Diagrams are completed well, spelling is correct. (5 marks)
 A diagram or more than 2 labels missing. Spelling errors. (3 marks)
 Not completed (0 marks)
TOTAL
/35

8
Human Anatomy Terms
The following terms are those which are used to identify the location of parts of the human body
in medicine and academic study. These terms are often used to describe a specific portion of a
structure or to compare the locations of two different structures. "The hand is distal to the
forearm" or "the medial portion of the frontal bone contains the frontal sinus" are examples of
this. This list is organized by keeping similar pairs or groups of terms together instead of by
alphabetical order so that you will find them easier to learn and remember.
Superior - toward or in reference to the head
Inferior – below the head in perspective
Anterior - the front of the body or front of body part (as in the the heart is anterior to the spinal
column)
Posterior - the back of the body or body part or in reference to behind a structure (our kidneys
are posterior to the intestines)
Medial - toward the midline that divides left and right. Our heart lies along the medial, tilted to
the left lateral slightly
Lateral - to the side away from the midline
Ventral – toward the bottom, toward the belly (a dogs belly is ventral, our intestines are ventral
to our kidneys, which lie to the back)
Proximal - closer to the torso or in reference to a limb attachment (the femor is proximal to the
hip; the rotator cuff is proximal to the clavical)
Distal - farther away from the torso (the fingers and toes are distal compared to the thigh which
is proximal)
Caudal – towards the tail (mostly in terms of animal dissections as in rats, dogs, cats etc.) or
towards the feet in bipeds.
Palmer – towards the palms
Plantar – towards the sole of the foot
9
Anatomical position - standing erect, facing the observer, arms are at the sides, palms toward
you.
The diagrams below shows the planes of symmetry (or asymmetry)
10
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
11
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
12
Biology 30S
Name
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
13
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Rt Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Pulmonary Artery
Left Ventricle
Pulmonary valve
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Atrium
Aortic valve
Sup Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Septum
Inf Vena Cava
Tricuspid valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
14
Aortic valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Rt Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Pulmonary Artery
Left Ventricle
Pulmonary valve
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Atrium
Aortic valve
Sup Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Septum
Inf Vena Cava
Tricuspid valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
Cut out the following exterior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Sup Vena Cava
Left Ventricle
Apex
Pulmonary Artery
Inf Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Coronary Artery
Pulmonary Vein
Rt Ventricle
Left Atrium
Cut out the following interior anatomy flags/labels from the laminated sheet:
Aorta
Inf Vena Cava
Left Atrium
Aortic valve
Pulmonary Artery
Rt Ventricle
Tricuspid valve
Septum
Pulmonary Vein
Left Ventricle
Bicuspid valve
Sup Vena Cava
Rt Atrium
Pulmonary valve
15