Heart Dissection Time!

The 3rd-6th grade co-op class I teach has been studying human anatomy, and last week we learned about the structure of the human heart.  This week, we are dissecting a sheep heart, because it is very similar, with the same basic shape, same basic blood vessels, and four chambers, very, very much like a human heart.

My TA took many pictures, but I don't want to post pictures of other people's children online without permission, so here are the photos I could post:

This is the heart laying on the table, while we examine it and try to determine the left and right ventricles.

Another view of the heart.

Here we are examining the left ventricle, atrium, and valves.

I wish I could post all the photos, we passed the heart around at each stage of the dissection so that each child could handle it, pull open the cut sections, and examine the parts.

These next three show my daughter looking at it.

Here is my son, he took part in the dissection too, but this is the only photo of him that doesn't show other children's faces.

The heart is all cut up, we saw the left and right ventricles, the left and right atriums, the valves, the aorta, and all the other main parts.

My daughter taking one last look.

My TA's daughter Isabelle, I know it's okay to post her photo.

Isabelle seems more interested in her fists than than the heart, at least in this photo.