Advanced Biology Students Dissect Eyes
by Erik Ellis
February 02, 2010
The Advanced Biology class members recently dissected sheep eyes. The eyes of a sheep do closely resemble human eyes. The processes of dissection clearly indicated different parts of the eye. Let me walk you through the process of dissecting an eye:
1. Remove all excess muscle and fat from around the eye.
a. There are six muscles around the eye that help move your eye.
b. The fat around the eye helps cushion the eye.
2. The students poked into the cornea and cut it away from the eye.
a. The cornea protects the eye.
b. Behind the cornea is the aqueous humor which is a fluid made of proteins and water that nourish the cornea and gives shape to the eye.
3. Cut away the iris.
a. The pupil lets in light for the eye.
b. The iris controls the size of the pupil to let in the light.
4. Cut away the lens.
a. The lens causes everything to turn upside down and backwards and helps magnify.
b. The vitreous humor is the gel behind the lens that nourishes the retina of the eye.
5. Cut along the sclera to view the retina.
a. The retina is light sensitive cells that detect light.
b. The blindspot is where all the nerves of the retina join to form a blind spot.
c. The optic nerve carries messages from the eye to the brain.
6. Stick probe through optic nerve to view the blindspot.
a. The tapetum assists in night vision in animals by reflecting light through the retina, it is a layer of blue-green shiny stuff.
The Advanced Biology students now know the eye inside and out. Their next project will be dissecting a heart.
