Chicken wing dissection
A chicken wing is a very good representation of a human arm. It has similar muscle attachments and similar joints. It is an excellent way to investigate the structure of the arm.
Aim - to dissect a chicken wing, draw the muscle attachments and identify the types of lever present
Apparatus - Scissors, forceps, probe, dissecting board, plastic glove, fresh chicken wing.
Method (ALL drawings are done in pencil)
1. Place the wing on the dissecting board and draw its external features. Is it a left or right side wing?
2. Remove the skin and draw the muscles that are visible. Scissors are useful for this.
Question and observations:
Is there only one muscle or are there many muscles? Squeeze and pull individual muscles and notice how the wing moves. You can separate muscles from each other by using the probe.
3. Using the forceps, locate where the muscles are attached to the bone.
4. Locate some of the tendons that attach the muscle to the bone.
Question and observations:
Are the tendons soft and elastic or tough and inflexible? Explain why you think they are like this.
5. Remove all the muscle to expose the bone structure of the wing. Find ligaments joining the bones
Draw the bone structure and identify where the muscles are attached to the bone. (At least ¼ page in size) Indicate how the bone moves. Draw ligaments.
1 2
3 4
6. With the help the diagram below, use the following words to match the human equivalent of each labelled part of the wing on YOUR drawing.
shoulder joint, ulna, radius, elbow joint, wrist, hand
Label the TYPE of each joint on your diagram.
Describe the similarities and differences between a wing and an arm.