- scalpel
- blade
- dissecting tray
- petri dish
- chicken wing
- 1 ml Ether
- cloths
- roller towel
Method:- Skin
- Before you begin, look at the external appearance of the chicken wing.
- Weigh the entire wing and record its mass in the table on the last page.
- Insert the scalpel blade onto the handle in the way you were shown. Lie the wing
upside down on the dissecting board. Cut with scissors from the severed end towards
the wingtip along the midline of the wing. Remove as much of the skin as you can
by freeing it from the underlying tissue with a blunt instrument or pulling with your
fingers. Carefully observe the tissue you are breaking.- Is skin a tissue or an organ?
- Why is there a ’web’ of skin between the joints?
- What are the ’bumps’ on the skin?
- How easily does the skin come off between the joints?
- Where is the skin most firmly attached?
- Record the mass of the skin in a table as shown on the last page.
- Connective Tissue
The skin is held to the underlying pink tissue by a type of connective tissue.- Name this particular type of connective tissue.
- Give two adjectives that accurately describe it.
- Fatty tissue
Look at the underside of the skin you have removed. You should see clumps of yellow
material. This is fat, oradipose tissue. It is also a type of connective tissue.Take a small amount of this fatty tissue and squash it gently in a small beaker with some
ether. Pour some of this solution onto a piece of filter paper. Dry the filter paper by waving
it in the air.This oily stain is known as atranslucentstain. From now on collect all the fatty material as
you find — you will need it later (place in a separate beaker)- What do you think the function of connective tissue is here?
- What do you notice? There is an oily stain on the paper after the ether has evaporated.
140 5.4. Animal tissues