Planes and Sections Lab 1
Observation:
An organism, organ, tissue or cell will look different from different planes of view and sections.
Materials:

Dissection tray

Scalpel

Scissors

Gloves
Method:



Magnifying glass
Pencil and ruler
1 kidney
1.
Orientate your kidney as it would be in the body cavity in an anatomically correct position. Look at the torso model to help.
2.
Determine which are the anterior surfaces and posterior surfaces.
1
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10

Planes and Sections Lab 1
3.
Determine which are the superior surfaces and inferior surfaces.
4.
Draw a clear line drawing (no art please) in your lab book and label these positional terms with a ruler.
5.
Observe and record the tissue on the outside of the organ = renal capsule.
6.
Observe and record any vessels on kidney.
7.
Observe and record adrenal gland if still present.
8.
Measure and record longitudinal length in cm.
9.
Measure and record Horizontal width in cm.
10.
Measure and record depth( (AP) = Anterior Posterior measurement) at horizontal line in cm.
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10
2

Planes and Sections Lab 1
“Any vertical plane passing from side to side and dividing the body or organ into anterior and posterior parts”
Now take your kidney, re orientate it correctly on your tray and make an incision along the Central
Coronal Plane – cut this. (Opening the kidney like a book. )
Examine what you see inside and draw a line representation of it in your lab book. Title your drawing and label using the diagram on the last page. Be able to identify:
F
Coronal section of a Sheep Kidney
Record other names are used to describe this plane in a full body.
3
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10

Planes and Sections Lab 1
“Any plane passing at a RIGHT ANGLE at the LONG AXIS of your structure “
Cut a section along the transverse plane of one side of your kidney.
Examine what you see using magnifying glass and draw a line representation of it in your lab book. Title your drawing and label as much as you can using the image on the next page. Can you identify and record the same structures that you did above?
Transverse/Cross Section of a Sheep Kidney
What other names are used to describe this cut?
If you saw a transverse section on a slide what would be the common abbreviation?

Remember that Transverse cuts of the human body are on the horizontal but if you are talking about an organ (eg Kidney) it would no longer be on the horizontal of the anatomically correct position but perpendicular to the organ’s longitudinal axis. In these cases it is known as a Cross
Section. (c.s on a slide)
Critical Analysis Section: (record in your lab book)
1.
In your lab book: Explain the differences in views (you are observing so you don’t need to be very technical yet. I want to make sure that you SEE the difference)
2.
Discuss why you think a kidney stone would be very painful to “pass”. What are the possible areas of renal system damage with a large stone?
4
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10


Some images of the kidney to help you:
Planes and Sections Lab 1
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10
5

Planes and Sections Lab 1
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10
6

Planes and Sections Lab 1
Part 2:
1.
Using a compound Microscope to study human tissue and recording what we observe. a.
Using prepared slides to study various tissue types b.
Preparing a wet slide mount of epithelial cells from our cheek
Lab Title: Histological Study of Body Tissues o Choose a microscope station. o (Activity A) - wet mount slide of cheek epithelia o Complete observation sheet A and attach into your notebook. o (Activity B) Histology (study of tissues) (Epithelial tissue, connective tissue, muscle tissue and nervous tissue) o Complete an observation sheet B for each and then attach into your notebook. o (Activity C) Study normal blood and either sickle cell blood or malarial blood. o Complete an observation sheet C and attach into your notebook
Activity A
Preparing and observing a wet mount
Equipment required per person: o 2 x Clean Microscope slide (avoid fingerprinting – hold by edge) o 2 x Clean cover slip (hold by edge) o Tweezers or probe (clean) o 2 Slices of kidney (note type of section – transverse/longitudinal/x.s etc) – as thin (under
1mm) as possible o Pipette of normal saline (0.9% N Saline is isotonic to our cells – ‘physiologic’solution) o Bottle of methylene blue stain or iodine stain (share)- use pipette or dropper bottle o Paper towel o Lens paper
Steps:
1.
Using the point of a probe, or the tweezers gently place the slice of kidney center of slide.
2.
Place a drop of physiologic saline in the center of your slide over the specimen. Place slide on tissue on table. (hold slide by edges)
3.
Repeat so that you have two slides of specimen sections. Label slides with sharpie ( 1 and 2) note this in your lab book.
4.
Add a TINY drop of stain to one slide specimen – use a tissue to draw up excess.
5.
Add coverslip to each slide:
7
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10

Planes and Sections Lab 1
6.
Hold the cover slip edge with your fingers (or fresh toothpick) so that its bottom edge touches one side of the fluid drop, then carefully lower the cover slip onto the preparation. Do not just drop the cover slip or you may trap a large air
bubble which will obscure your specimen. A cover slip should always be used with a wet mount to prevent soiling the lens if you should misfocus.
7.
Label and examine your prepared slide carefully. The cover slip should be sealed on all sides with no excess fluid – if there is excess fluid leaking from edge of cover slip you will need to remove excess fluid  Fold over a piece of lens paper and using folded edge blot up excess fluid. (Discard this paper in trash box).
8.
Go to your microscope and place slide on the stage. Switch on Microscope and locate the cells at the lowest scanning power. (You may wish to dim the light with the iris diaphragm to increase the contrast in the lightly stained cells. A wet mount will also dry out very quickly under strong light).
9.
Move to a higher power to examine the section more closely.
10.
Record your results below:
Observation sheet A: Complete this and attach to your notebook (use glue)
Slide # Ocular Lens Magnification Objective Lens
Magnification
Total Magnification
Make a sketch of each slide at the highest magnification used (title and label your drawings):
8
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10

Planes and Sections Lab 1
OBSERVATION SHEET A – EXAMPLE OF
A
Slide details:
Name of sample :_________________________________________________
Stain __________________________________________________________
Mount _________________________________________________________ o Observations made:
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________ o Sketches:
Ocular Magnification
A
B
Objective Magnification
B
Total Magnification
9
Practical Exercise/ Unit 1/Language of Anatomy LMJ/10