Kidney Dissection
Name: ________________________________
Directions:
1. Obtain your preserved kidney and tools.
2. If it has not been cut off, find the place where the ureter and blood vessels attach. It should be at the
middle of the inside curve of the bean-shaped kidney.
3. First remove the outside covering, which is the renal capsule.
-Once the renal capsule is removed, you will be looking at the renal cortex
-Generally, the tube with the most adipose around it is the ureter.
4. Cut the kidney in half so that you have
two bean-shaped halves.
5. Identify the following parts by placing the correct pin color into the proper
structure. Use any diagrams needed to help you identify the structures.
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Renal capsule (outer covering) = orange
Cortex (first layer under renal capsule) = red
Medulla (renal pyramids) = blue
Nephrons (tiny, thread-like tubes that make up the medulla) = green
Calyces (drainage tubes that lead to the renal pelvis) = yellow
Renal pelvis (large area that drains into the ureter) = clear
Ureter (slender tube, inside the curve) = white
6. Now make a cross-cut in one of the halves. Can you see the medulla all the way thru the kidneys? _______
7. Dispose of the kidney as directed by the teacher, after you have answered all questions. Clean tools.
8. Label the structures A-G from above on the kidney diagram below.
Examining a kidney: Answer the questions below
1. How does the size of the kidney you observed compare with the size of a human kidney? (a human kidney
is the size of your fist)
2. Comparing the real kidney with the drawing (diagram), what structures are similar?
What structures are different?
3. What structure of the kidney do you find the nephrons?
4. What structures carry blood in and out of the kidney?
5. What is the purpose of the ureter?
6. When you remove the renal capsule from a kidney, what portion of the kidney becomes clearly visible?
7. What is the thin outer covering called?
8. What is the function of the nephrons?
9. Why is the right kidney slightly lower than the left kidney?
10. Label the diagram