Dissection and Discovery

Friday, 6th June 2025 at 8:30am

Level 2 Applied Science students have plucked up the courage to dissect the internal organs of an animal.

Students dissected plucks to support their learning towards an internal assessment about adaptations for gas exchange across three animal groups (mammals, fish and insects).

Pluck refers to the internal organs of an animal, including the tongue, larynx, oesophagus, heart, lungs and diaphragm. In this dissection, these organs are studied in detail to show their roles in supporting the body's many systems including the transportation of air, blood and food through the body.

This was the first of three dissections - next week will be fish gills and the following week we'll dissect locusts.

The main goals of the pluck dissection were to examine the structure of the trachea and bronchi, locate some smaller bronchioles within the lobes of the lungs, observe the spongy, buoyant nature of lung tissue and examine how closely connected the heart and lungs are to each other.

Students also inflated some of the lungs with a pump to show their capacity for expansion.

Pictured above is Rainier Bassett (Year 12)