Heart dissection

REMEMBER WHAT TO DO

You may have done some work 1. Put the heart on the board.
about the heart in Key Stage 3

TARGETS

To work safely and make careful

observations
To find the coronary arteries that
supply the heart muscle with blood and
the chambers and valves of the heart
To work out the direction of blood
flow through the heart
YOU NEED
2. Look at the blood vessels on the surface of the heart.
These are the coronary arteries and veins.
You may need to cut away some fat to see them clearly.
3. Feel the thinner right side
and the thicker left side of
the ventricle muscle.

A heart
Dissecting board
Scissors 4. Make sure that the thinner
String or strips of heavy black right side is to your left.
polythene: 2 pieces, each 30 cm long,
per heart
Disposable gloves
Disinfectant
Soap and water 5. Cut around the 6. If you lift up the two
heart horizontally. upper sides of the heart
you will see the muscle in
the middle of the heart that
separates the two parts.

SAFETY

Take care when using scissors –

make sure that you do not cut yourself
by mistake.
 Heart dissection

SAFETY WHAT TO DO

After the dissection:

7. Notice there are two chambers on each side.
• wipe down benches
with disinfectant; 8. Find the two top chambers, or atria. (Atria is the plural of
atrium.)

9. Find the two lower chambers (ventricles).

10. Find the one-way valves (heart valves and valves at the
opening of arteries) that stop blood flowing the wrong
way through the heart.

11. Thread pieces of string through the blood vessels,

• wash your hands thoroughly. chambers and valves to help you to see where the blood
would enter and leave the heart.

12. Wipe down the bench afterwards. Then wash your hands.

DISCUSSION

While you are carrying out the dissection discuss the

following questions with your partners and your teacher.

a) Why is the left ventricle wall much thicker than the right?
b) Which set of valves closes when the ventricles contract?
c) Which set of valves closes when the ventricles relax?
d) Sometimes there are large deposits of fat on the surface
of a heart. Do you think the fat matters?