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Chicken Wing Dissection
There are 600 different muscles in the human body, and an astounding 6
trillion individual fibers. The largest muscle is the gluteus maximus (found
on buttocks) and the smallest is the stapedius, which is located in the ear.
Contrary to popular belief, muscles are not made up of mostly protein. In
fact, they are only 20% protein, and the rest is mainly water mass. Most
animal muscle tissue is similar, including aves or birds. Today you will
examine a chicken wing and understand its general make up, including
parts and location.
Purpose: To understand the location and function of muscles, bones, and
tendons.
Materials: gloves, raw chicken wing, dissecting tray, paper towels, forceps,
scissors, scalpel, disinfectant
Procedure:
1. Have “material maintenance” person collect all materials except raw
chicken.
2. Have your “surgeon” put on gloves and get the raw chicken from
your teacher. CAUTION: DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE WITH YOUR
HANDS DURING THE LAB. Also be careful with the sharp objects.
3. Place the chicken wing on a paper towel in your dissecting tray. Peel
back or cut away the skin and fat of the largest wing segment to
expose the large muscle. This muscle is called the biceps. Find the
tendon that attaches the bicep to the bones of the middle segment of
the wing. Tendons are tough, shiny white cords that join the muscle
to the bone.
4. Use forceps to pull on the tendon of the biceps, and observe what
happens to the chicken wing.
5. Use scalpel or scissors to remove all muscle from the wing. Try to
crack the bone in half and observe what is inside. BE BAREFUL
CONTENTS MAY FLY.
6. Dispose of chicken. Clean ALL tools and tray