Dissection in biology provides a hands-on education above and beyond reading a textbook. By seeing, touching and exploring different organs, muscles and tissues inside an animal and seeing how they work together allows you to really understand your own body and appreciate the amazing world around us. And it's not hard  - you can dissect a kidney right at home using an inexpensive specimen with a dissection guide and simple dissection tools! Many doctors, surgeons and veterinarians report that their first fascination with the body started with a biology dissection class.

In today’s dissection, we’ll be looking at a kidney. Kidneys are critical for removing toxic waste and regulating the levels of water, sugars, salts, and acids in the bodies of mammals. There are many things that make a kidney interesting, including its unique bean shape and the fact that it contains about a million microscopic structures called nephrons that are key in the blood filtration process.

Materials:

Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


Dissection in biology provides a hands-on education above and beyond reading a textbook. By seeing, touching and exploring different organs, muscles and tissues inside an animal and seeing how they work together allows you to really understand your own body and appreciate the amazing world around us. And it's not hard  - you can dissect a sheep brain right at home using an inexpensive specimen with a dissection guide and simple dissection tools! Many doctors, surgeons and veterinarians report that their first fascination with the body started with a biology dissection class.

In today’s dissection, we’ll be looking at a sheep heart. Like humans, sheep have four-chambered hearts. Hearts are an essential organ--they pump blood through your body to keep you alive!

Materials:

Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


Dissection in biology provides a hands-on education above and beyond reading a textbook. By seeing, touching and exploring different organs, muscles and tissues inside an animal and seeing how they work together allows you to really understand your own body and appreciate the amazing world around us. And it's not hard  - you can dissect a heart right at home using an inexpensive specimen with a dissection guide and simple dissection tools! Many doctors, surgeons and veterinarians report that their first fascination with the body started with a biology dissection class.

In today’s dissection, we’ll be looking at a sheep brain. Brains, while still not entirely understood by biologists or psychologists, are critical for movement, respiration, thought, memory, processing sensory signals, and more. What we talk about in today’s dissection just scratches the surface of all there is to know about the brain, which is the most complex organ in the human body.

Materials:

Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


The shell of chicken eggs are made mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which which reacts with distilled white vinegar (try placing a raw egg in a glass of vinegar overnight). The shell has over 15,000 tiny little mores that allows air and moisture to pass through, and a protective outer coating to keep out harmful things like dust and bacteria.

We're going to peek inside of an egg and discover the transparent protein membrane (made of the same protein your hair is made up of: keratin) and also peek in the air space that forms when the egg cools and contracts (gets smaller). Can you find the albumen (the egg white)? It's made up of mostly water with about 40 different proteins.

Please login or register to read the rest of this content.



Download Egg Dissection Lab here for older grades (5-12th) and here for younger grades (K-4).

Imagine leaving your home every year and traveling hundreds of miles to a completely different place, only to return home later in the year. As amazing as this sounds, this is exactly what many species of birds do in a process called migration.




Please login or register to read the rest of this content.

When birds and animals drink from lakes, rivers, and ponds, how pure it is? Are they really getting the water they need, or are they getting something else with the water?


This is a great experiment to see how water moves through natural systems. We’ll explore how water and the atmosphere are both polluted and purified, and we’ll investigate how plants and soil help with both of these. We’ll be taking advantage of capillary action by using a wick to move the water from the lower aquarium chamber into the upper soil chamber, where it will both evaporate and transpire (evaporate from the leaves of plants) and rise until it hits a cold front and condenses into rain, which falls into your collection bucket for further analysis.


Sound complicated? It really isn’t, and the best part is that it not only uses parts from your recycling bin but also takes ten minutes to make.


Please login or register to read the rest of this content.

Dolphins have complex brains which scientists have discovered are developed enough in certain areas to handle higher-order thinking. Dolphins have shown by their behavior that they know who’s in their group, what status they have, which team they’re on, and each have individual quirks that make it unique from the others. In fact, when a scientist placed a mirror in a tank, the dolphin recognized himself, which made scientists think that perhaps dolphins may have a sense of self.


After a dolphin is specially trained, it has the ability to learn language. Trainers teach the dolphins to tell the difference between statements and questions using gestures and symbols, and they can reverse the order of the words to mean different things (syntax). And dolphins can tell not only the order of the words, but that the meaning has changed as well.


For example, these two sentences have exactly the same words, but in different order:


“Johnny bit the dog.”
“The dog bit Johnny.”


Although the words are exactly the same, the order that you place them in a sentence will give them two entirely different meanings, especially if you are Johnny!


So what does all this have to do with aliens?


Well, I met Dr. Laurence Doyle of the SETI Institute years ago in Mountain View, California, and he studies animal communication as he figures out new ways to detect intelligence in space. It’s a special kind of math that looks at how information is structured, and it’s based on how dolphins communicate with each other.


If you’ve ever heard the statement ‘Are we alone?’ Dr. Doyle answers: ‘No, we’re not alone. There are many animals communicating right here that we don’t understand.’



Scientists are searching for ways to detect alien signals by starting right at home with smart animals all around us. Dr. Doyle says: ‘We’ve been waiting (to hear from aliens) for years, but I thought, ‘We’re not ready!’ We can’t even speak to the intelligent animals on Earth.’


Cool Fact: Did you know that dolphins know what “none” and “zero” means?


Ever wonder what a dolphin trainer really does? These trainers not only train dolphins, but also whales, seals, sea lions, walruses and other marine mammals by using positive reinforcement (sometimes referred to “operant conditioning”). This means that when the animal does the right behavior, there’s a reward. Otherwise, no action or reward is taken. Here’s a neat video that shows how dolphins and killer whales are trained for real:



Having feathers is one of the most distinct features of birds. In fact, birds are the only living group of animals that have feathers. Not all feathers are the same however. Take a walk, find some feathers, and explore what they do!


Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


By completing a dissection, you can see firsthand the anatomy of an animal. Dissecting a roasted chicken (yes, the same kind that you eat) will allow you to investigate the skin, muscle, and bones of this bird.


So, if you’re interested in seeing what allows a chicken to run, fly, and survive, go out to the grocery store and grab some chicken!


Please login or register to read the rest of this content.

Marsupials are characterized by the presence of a pouch in the female. The pouch contains the mammary glands, which nourish the young. The offspring of marsupials remain in the pouch until they are able to survive on their own. The most well known marsupials are probably kangaroos and koalas, but there are a number of other marsupials, many from Australia.




The thylacine (tasmanian tiger) looked a lot like a short-haired dog combined with a kangaroo. Some folks say that it looked similar to a hyena. The stripes on the rump faded as the animal aged.


There was some sexual dimorphism (the males were slightly larger than females). Normally in marsupials, the pouch opens toward the head of the animal. The female had a pouch that opened to the rear (toward the tail). The thylacine was able to open its jaws very wide – nearly 120 degrees – to show off its 46 sharp teeth.




In today’s dissection, we’ll be looking at an owl pellet. Owls are carnivores, and they eat things like moles, shrews, rodents, birds, insects, and even crayfish. Owls are unable to digest the bones and fur of these creatures, so they regurgitate (or spit up) what are called pellets--small bundles of all the indigestible parts of the owl’s prey.

Owl pellet dissection is an easy, hands-on way to learn about the eating habits of birds of prey. (Owl pellets are the regurgitated remains of an owl's meal.) But don't be grossed out - finding and piecing together the bones inside owl pellets is fascinating work for a young scientist such as yourself! As you dissect the pellet, you'll find skeletons of mice, voles, birds, and more. Synthetic pellets are available for younger children if you'd like to use a substitute.

Dissection in biology provides a hands-on education above and beyond reading a textbook. By seeing, touching and exploring different organs, muscles and tissues inside an animal and seeing how they work together allows you to really understand your own body and appreciate the amazing world around us. And it's not hard  - you can dissect a pellet right at home using an inexpensive specimen with a dissection guide and simple dissection tools! Many doctors, surgeons and veterinarians report that their first fascination with the body started with a biology dissection class.

Materials:

 

Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


How does the eye work? If you are amazed as I am about how the different parts of the eye are put together, then this is the lab for you! It's important not only to learn how to take apart video cameras and blenders to find out how they work, but also to be fascinated by how the different parts of living creatures work ... like the eye!

In today’s dissection, we’ll be looking at a cow eye. Because cow eyes are so similar to humans eyes, you’ll learn a lot about your own eyes by dissecting the cow eye. Eyes are a very special organ that form images from the world around you and then send the images to your brain for processingYou will be able to see the cornea, iris, pupil, connecting muscles and veins, and other features.

Materials: Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


Emperor and Adelie penguins are two species of this flightless bird that live in the Antarctic. Adelies spend most of the year in the water. In October, spring begins in the southern hemisphere, including in the South Pole where Adelies live, and these penguins come onto the land to lay their nests, mate, and raise chicks. The nest of the Adelie is lined with pebbles, and the penguins are very careful about the pebbles they choose. A good pebble can lead to fights if several penguins want it, and a penguin will steal another penguin’s pebble if they are not paying attention.


Male and female Adelie’s work together incubating the eggs and raising the chicks. The female lays two eggs and the male takes the first turn incubating them. After they hatch, in about 35 days, one parent watches them while the other gets food. As the chicks grow, they are left in groups called crèches, so that both parents can hunt for them. By February, as it is getting close to fall in the South Pole, the chicks have fully developed feathers and are ready to leave the land and go onto the ice.


Emperor penguins are the tallest, heaviest, and deepest diving penguins. They also are the only penguins who raise their young during Antarctic winters. The penguins come out of the sea in March and walk, sometimes great distances, to breeding grounds. Most colonies breed on ice, although a few do so on the ground.


In May or early June, the female lays a single egg and transfers it to her mate. The male incubates the egg for two months in a pouch called the brood pouch. Many males will huddle together, taking turns being on the inside and outside, to stay warm. During this time, the females go off to hunt. Like the Adelies, males and females take turns protecting and providing food for the newborns until they get old enough to be left alone while both parents hunt. In December or January, they return to the sea.


Emperors are well designed for their difficult tasks, including surviving the cold, going without food for long periods of time, and making many hard trips to and from the sea. If they go so deep in the water that the pressure becomes greater than their lungs can handle, they can collapse their lungs and slow down their heart rates to save oxygen. They also store additional oxygen in muscle tissue. Research about this oxygen storage ability may help human stroke victims, who also suffer from a lack of oxygen.


Global warming presents severe problems for the Adelie and Emperor penguins. Melting of the ice in Antarctica will reduce the amount of space the penguins have to hunt and live for most of the year. Rising temperatures will also bring more rain and liquid water to Antarctica, which is currently the driest place on Earth. Melted water can destroy the pebble-protected nests of the Adelies. In the Western Antarctic peninsula, where global warming has had the greatest effect, penguin populations have decreased by 80%.


Let’s see how much you’ve picked up with these experiments and the reading – answer as best as you can. (No peeking at the answers until you’re done!) Just relax and see what jumps to mind when you read the question. You can also print these out and jot down your answers in your science notebook.


Please login or register to read the rest of this content.

Let’s see how you did! If you didn’t get a few of these, don’t let it stress you out – it just means you need to play with more experiments in this area. We’re all works in progress, and we have our entire lifetime to puzzle together the mysteries of the universe!


Here’s printer-friendly versions of the exercises and answers for you to print out: Simply click here for printable questions and answers.


Answers:
Please login or register to read the rest of this content.


If you soak chicken bones in acetic acid (distilled vinegar), you’ll get rubbery bones that are soft and pliable as the vinegar reacts with the calcium in the bones. This happens with older folks when they lose more calcium than they can replace in their bones, and the bones become brittle and easier to break. Scientists have discovered calcium is replaced more quickly in bodies that exercise and eating calcium rich foods, like green vegetables.


This is actually two experiments in one – here’s what you need to do:


Please login or register to read the rest of this content.