Biomedical Science
Señor Robles
An Introduction to Animal Tissues
Histology Lab
Find the Animal Tissues Lab from Rutgers University at this website:
http://bio.rutgers.edu/%5C~gb102/lab_6/index.html (there’s also a link from the Roblesite)
Page One: Objectives and Introduction
1. Based on what the objectives describe (and the fact that there are four large images on this page), what do you
suppose will the most important objective of this activity? (Hint: what verb is used the most in the objectives?)
To be able to identify / recognize various types of cells and tissues.
2. Reading the Introduction, what appears to be the single most important sentence in terms of your goals with this
activity? (Hint: Look back at your Levels of Organization)
…to bridge the gap between single cells and the total multicellular animal.
3. What are the four types of tissues? (You should know this by now. If not, just remember: Every Cow Makes Noise)
Epithelial, Connective, Muscle, & Nervous
Page Two: Interpreting Sections
1. This page uses the terms Cross Section and Longitudinal Section. Compare these to the terms in your notes on
body planes and deduce what they are synonyms for:
This term:
Cross Section
Longitudinal Section
means the same as:
Transverse Section
and divides the specimen into:
Superior and inferior parts (in a human)
Sagittal Section
left and right
2. Looking at the picture of the egg, click on the numbers (1, 2, 3 ) to see how they differ. Do this for both Cross
Section and Longitudinal Section, and sketch the selected results below:
Cross Section B
Longitudinal Section B
3. For either of these, what is the point of having three cuts (A,B,C) in the diagram?
To demonstrate that the specimen (whether an egg or a human) is not uniform throughout. For example, different
internal organs may only reside in a small area, and would be missed if you relied on a single cut.
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4. Click on the word “orange” and look at that image, and click on the three letters. What sections do they
correspond to? (Hint: think of the navel as the head)
Letter
Section
A
Cross/ Transverse
B
Oblique
Longitudinal / Sagittal
(parasagittal in this diagram)
C
navel
5. Click on the blue “next figure” and study that diagram.
suggest a possibility for what that tubular structure
could be: All sorts of possibilities; an artery, the esophagus, etc.
Page Three: Artifacts & Cautionary Notes
1. What is an artifact with regards to a tissue slide? …an artificial feature introduced into a section because of the
way it was prepared.
2. Name three artifacts mentioned in this section: Bubbles, gaps produced by some tissue shrinking, compression
due to making the slide.
3. Why isn’t color always reliable when describing a tissue?
…histological slides are stained with various types of dyes, so you may not be observing the natural color
Page Four: Epithelial Tissues
1. Where, in general, would you find epithelial tissue (epithelium) in the body?
a. Lining external surfaces and…
b. Internal cavities (major body cavities as well as cavities within organs
2. What are the four major functions of epithelial tissue?
a. Protection of underlying tissues
b. Absorption
c. Secretion
Some goblet cells too
d. Reception of sensory stimuli
Pseudostratified
columnar epithelium
3. What non-cellular substance separates epithelial tissue
from a different, underlying tissue?
The basement membrane
Label the diagram to the right:
Basement membrane
4. Fill in the table to differentiate between various
types of epithelial tissue:
description
One layer
Multiple layers
term
simple
stratified
description
Thin and flattened
term
squamous
Equally high & wide
cuboidal
Rectangular
columnar
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Page Five: Simple Squamous Epithelium
1. Where (in what type of environment) would you find this type of tissue?
…found covering surfaces that are not exposed to much irritation.
2. Give two examples of this type of place.
a. Lining of blood vessels
b. Fluid-filled body cavities
3. Sketch this tissue(8-9 cells) at the high power setting:
4. What is the difference between endothelium and mesothelium?
It’s called endothelium when it’s lining a blood vessel (endo = inside)
It’s called mesothelium (meso = middle) when it’s lining the inside wall of a body cavity (imagine, if you will,
being inside someone’s abdominal cavity and touching the smooth slippery inner wall. That’s mesothelium.)
Thus, endothelium and mesothelium are the same material, just in a different location. It’s like in a volcano when
liquid hot magma becomes lava just because it emerges from the ground.
Sorry kids, this is all I can give you. I finished this document on my class computer, and I can’t access the file
from home. Do your best on the rest, I have confidence in you!
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