ARE YOU CHICKEN? 2010
Name: TEACHER’S NOTES Period:___
PURPOSE:
You will be dissecting a chicken wing to examine how the muscles,
bones, and tendons work together to enable movement.
METHODS/PROCEDURE:
1) Wear goggles and gloves.
2) Rinse the chicken wing with water* and pat it dry with a paper towel.
3) Put the wing in a dissection tray.
***In Box A, draw the chicken wing with the skin on and label: upper
arm, elbow, lower arm, and hand (wing tip).
4) Use scissors to carefully remove all of the skin. Cut ONLY through
the skin. Cut AWAY from your body and your classmates.
***In Box B, draw the chicken wing without the skin on and label:
muscles, tendons, and ligaments.
5) Find the two groups of muscles in the upper arm.
6) Hold the arm down at the shoulder and alternately pull on each
muscle group.
7) Find the two muscle groups in the lower arm.
8) Hold the arm at the elbow and alternately pull on each muscle group.
9) Find the tendons- shiny, white tissue at the ends of the muscles.
10) Notice what parts the tendons connect.
11) Remove the muscles and tendons.
12) Find the ligaments- whitish, ribbon-shaped
structures between the bones.
13) Dispose of the chicken parts according to
your teacher’s instructions.
14) WASH YOUR HANDS!
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Minority Science Program – School of Biological Sciences – University of California, Irvine
ARE YOU CHICKEN? 2010
RESULTS:
Box A: Chicken wing WITH skin.
Box B: Chicken wing WITHOUT skin.
QUESTIONS:
1) a. Describe how a chicken wing moves at the elbow?
A chicken wing can bend at the elbow, but only in one
direction (a folding motion), not side to side.
b. How does the motion compare to how your elbow moves?
It moves the same as our elbows.
c. What type of joint is involved?
Hinge joint
2) a. What happened when you pulled on one of the arm muscles?
Pulling on one of the arm muscles cause movement of the
lower arm toward the upper arm.
b. What muscle action does the pulling represent?
Contraction
3) Which one of the three types of muscles are you observing in the
chicken wing? Skeletal muscle
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Minority Science Program – School of Biological Sciences – University of California, Irvine
ARE YOU CHICKEN? 2010
*PREPARATION NOTE: Wings (raw) can be soaked in a dilute bleach
solution for a few hours prior to dissection to reduce bacteria.
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Minority Science Program – School of Biological Sciences – University of California, Irvine