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Fetal Pig Dissection

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The fetal pig was a great resource to dissect do to it’s similarities to the human body in which we study in anatomy class. In addition, the size of the organs make them easy to find and identify. Another reason we use the fetal pig is because many people do not think of pigs as pets. If people dissected cats, the mental damage done to the human dissecting it may scar them for life. It also may lead them a stray from the medical field. Fetal pigs have no real purpose, they are a product of the pork food industry. They are not intentionally bred for the purpose of dissection. Therefore, fetal pigs are the paramount of dissection. Fetal pigs are ultimately inexpensive.

The similarities are clearly shown in the internal anatomy of the pig. …show more content…

Looking at a diagram of the human body is nothing when comparing it to dissecting a body, however you may not just dissect humans, which is why it is essential that we use the fetal pig. Fetal pigs are mammals, like humans. Nearly all major structures of the pig are similar to the human body. The investigation of the pig is significant because you can only learn so much by looking at a diagram. Looking at the real thing is much more relevant in the process of learning. Dissection is a hands-on activity for students. It allows students to test what they see in books.

At first, we were very hesitant on dissecting the fetal pig. It was something new for both of us. We did not know what to expect, other than video we watched in class. The video was much different from the actually dissection, due to the hands-on experience. Once we got comfortable with the fetal pig, we were able to do our jobs without any …show more content…

The biggest one was matching the organs with the pictures in the packet. Many times we found ourselves confused on if we were doing the correct thing or not, which is why we had to ask many questions and even go as far as asking our other classmates for help. Another issue that we encountered was with the tools we were given themselves. Although they were very sharp, it was hard to maneuver the blade around the pig. We often found ourselves having to switch equipment to get into the designated place. Another problem was figuring out how deep to go when cutting. The packet was not specific on how deep to cut into the fetal pig. We found ourselves damaging some of the internal organs. Damaging the internals organs affects the entire process of dissection. It changes everything of the dissection because the main point of this investigation is to identify them and not destroy them.

All of the incision were preformed very careful and slow. We tried not to rupture the pig, but it very difficult. The equipment that was given was handy, however, they were not comfortable in our hands. For example, the scissors were too small for our hands and the scalpel was not useful in most of the situations we encountered while dissecting. Although we did not conduct many mini experiments, we took a look at our classmates fetal pig. We watched them as they observed the fetal pig’s brain and uncovered their spinal

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