Dissection: Heart
Overview: The cardiovascular system is the transport center for the entire
body, consisting of your heart, blood vessels, and the blood they transport.
The heart is specifically designed to function as the pump, circulating
oxygen-poor blood to the lungs to be oxygenated, and oxygen-rich blood
out to your various organs to transport nutrients. Today you will be
dissecting a non-human mammalian heart, which has the same organization
and function as a human heart.
Procedures:
1. Review lab safety procedures, appropriate use of dissection tools, and proper dissection etiquette prior to
beginning. Make sure you have all of the protective safety gear and dissecting instruments you will
need before getting started.
2. Begin by getting the heart oriented. Locate the anterior and posterior sides of the heart. Also determine
the apex vs. the base of the heart.
3. Once you are oriented, see if you can locate and identify the various blood vessels coming off of the
heart. Mark them with old colored pencils or colored straws to help keep yourself oriented throughout
the dissection. Make a color-coded key so you don’t forget which is which!
4. Locate the right atrium. Cut into it carefully. You should be able to pull the colored pencil or straw
you used to mark the superior vena cava through so that you can see it emptying into the right atrium
you just cut into. Try this now!
5. Use a probe and try to locate the tricuspid valve that connects the right atrium to the right ventricle.
6. Make a cut through the anterior side of the right ventricle. This may also help maneuver your probe
through the tricuspid valve and into the right ventricle. Attempt to locate the three cusps of the tricuspid
valve.
7. In the right ventricle, see if you can find the pulmonary valve that connects to the pulmonary artery.
Try to stick a probe through the valve and up and out of the pulmonary artery. Then you can confirm if
you originally marked the artery correctly before you began cutting!
8. Now locate the left atrium. It helps if you can find a pulmonary vein and insert a probe through it,
then cut along the length of the probe so you know you are cutting into the left atrium.
9. Use a probe and try to locate the mitral valve that connects the left atrium to the left ventricle.
10. Make a cut into the left ventricle. Note the thickness of the myocardium that makes this chamber the
most challenging to cut through.
11. Use a probe and try to locate the aortic valve that the blood travels through when leaving the left
ventricle and distributing out to the body through the aorta.
12. See if you can locate the chordae tendineae that come off the valves and attach to the papillary
muscles.
13. Make any additional observations you need before cleaning up.
© It’s Not Rocket Science® 2019 1
Overview: The cardiovascular system is the transport center for the entire
body, consisting of your heart, blood vessels, and the blood they transport.
The heart is specifically designed to function as the pump, circulating
oxygen-poor blood to the lungs to be oxygenated, and oxygen-rich blood
out to your various organs to transport nutrients. Today you will be
dissecting a non-human mammalian heart, which has the same organization
and function as a human heart.
Procedures:
1. Review lab safety procedures, appropriate use of dissection tools, and proper dissection etiquette prior to
beginning. Make sure you have all of the protective safety gear and dissecting instruments you will
need before getting started.
2. Begin by getting the heart oriented. Locate the anterior and posterior sides of the heart. Also determine
the apex vs. the base of the heart.
3. Once you are oriented, see if you can locate and identify the various blood vessels coming off of the
heart. Mark them with old colored pencils or colored straws to help keep yourself oriented throughout
the dissection. Make a color-coded key so you don’t forget which is which!
4. Locate the right atrium. Cut into it carefully. You should be able to pull the colored pencil or straw
you used to mark the superior vena cava through so that you can see it emptying into the right atrium
you just cut into. Try this now!
5. Use a probe and try to locate the tricuspid valve that connects the right atrium to the right ventricle.
6. Make a cut through the anterior side of the right ventricle. This may also help maneuver your probe
through the tricuspid valve and into the right ventricle. Attempt to locate the three cusps of the tricuspid
valve.
7. In the right ventricle, see if you can find the pulmonary valve that connects to the pulmonary artery.
Try to stick a probe through the valve and up and out of the pulmonary artery. Then you can confirm if
you originally marked the artery correctly before you began cutting!
8. Now locate the left atrium. It helps if you can find a pulmonary vein and insert a probe through it,
then cut along the length of the probe so you know you are cutting into the left atrium.
9. Use a probe and try to locate the mitral valve that connects the left atrium to the left ventricle.
10. Make a cut into the left ventricle. Note the thickness of the myocardium that makes this chamber the
most challenging to cut through.
11. Use a probe and try to locate the aortic valve that the blood travels through when leaving the left
ventricle and distributing out to the body through the aorta.
12. See if you can locate the chordae tendineae that come off the valves and attach to the papillary
muscles.
13. Make any additional observations you need before cleaning up.
© It’s Not Rocket Science® 2019 1
