Fleetwood Park Biology 11: January 2013

It has been another wonderful class with the fun and "very humane" activity of physically ripping out the internal organs of yet another poor animal that ended up in our hands.

Purpose and Goals:

Said dissection included an alcohol-preserved specimen (dissectee?). So I would say the first purpose of the dissection would be to sting our hands (or face) and to abuse our scent palates. More importantly though, this dissection introduces higher and more complex levels of organisms to our currently primitive knowledge, allowing us to observe the differences in these animals and compare them to similar organisms (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, other mammals) and ultimately to help us see the trends in evolution from simple invertebrates to complex mammals. Through this dissection, a goal that I kept in mind was to contrast the differences in the rats internal organs to the human body (to my knowledge).

The dissection also included a brief and simple lesson on the different organs and functions, which also deepens my understanding of the mammals.

(this dissection may also have a hidden purpose: to teach us about the effects of alcohol and the way it limits/prevents bacterial growth, which helps us learn about microbiology)

Relation to Class Material:

In class, we learned about mammals and their superiority over others. Due to this complexity and "higher rank" of mammals, it makes sense to see the mammal parts in detail for they are very developed and adapted for a mammal's life. Through this dissection, I was able to see the different parts of the body that the textbooks and notes tried to explain. Personally, I believe that this is still the best way to understand the placement of organs and their size, which gives a vague but accurate and self-explanatory of the organs functions. Also, this relates to the vertebrates and their evolution to land because the dissection allows us to see the lungs, stronger limbs, and other structures that permit the organisms to live on land.

Personal Response:

There isn't much to comment on my own personal feelings, for whatever heart-warming feeling of untangling rat intestines were overpowered by the stench of the alcohol (which also made me imagine mickey mouse intoxicated and walking by our class for some strange reason). However, cutting open flesh (and giving a rat a shave) is always interesting and somewhat enjoyable as the faces we make when we open the carcass is worth preserving in stone. Another cool thing about this dissection was the clear separation of sexes and witnessing the observable characteristics in animals that at least had some (however tiny) relationship to us today.

Questions:

Most of the question answers were placed, unfortunately, on the back of the rat diagram labelling package, which I have handed in without thinking today (test anxiety?)

I have three questions yet to be answered (#6, 7, and 8 on the internal anatomy part 2 section)

6. The reproductive organs of the male and females are similar because they mature at the same rate during development, they both produce gametes, and their gonads are in pairs (two testes and ovaries).

7. The kidneys are used to filter the blood and control the levels of almost anything and everything present in the blood. The kidneys are extremely important due to their job in regulating the water content and mammals heavily depend on their kidneys for survival

8. The thyroid gland, the thymus gland, and the adrenal gland serve their function in the endocrine system. The thymus gland serves function also in the immune system, helping create white blood cells and T-lymphocytes that combat antigens. The thyroid gland is in the neck and swells up during infections (as in sore throat). The adrenal gland produces hormones.