Chicken Dissection Lab

For this lab, we used a chicken carcass and dissected it to identify different muscles within the body. The objective was to learn more about the different types of muscles in the body, identify it by its shape and its look, and compare it to our own human muscles, which to a certain degree have similar aspects. By cutting through the skin and the connective tissue, we were able to see what the muscle really looked like and how it interacted with bones and tendons to manifest certain movements and actions. Initially going down the middle to see the pectoralis major and minor and flipping it over to locate the trapezius and latissimus dorsi, we then moved in on the wings, discovering muscles like the biceps brachii, the triceps humeralis, and the brachioradialis, which all have names that resemble muscles in our own arms. We got to see an excellent example of the tendon, not necessarily at work, but definitely how it functions. Tendons connect muscle and bone for movement, and the tendons at the biceps brachii kept the limb stabilized so when we bent the wings, the contraction was smooth and without disruption. Tendons at the origin would stabilize the muscle, and tendons at the insertion allowed the muscle to contract and move. We only got a good look at the tendons at the origin, but I'm sure the tendon at the insertion was there somewhere. To compare this chicken and our own anatomy, there were certainly several muscles and other things that were notable, especially in the limbs. We both have the humerus, the ulna, and the radius, but not only do we share the relatively same bone, we also share the same muscles attached to them like the biceps and the triceps. The proportions are different however, not only because of size, but because of the specific way they're positioned to advocate movement of the limbs. We don't flap wings because we have arms, and our fingers are much more delicate and more intricate in terms of movement. They are birds, and we are mammals, so that line still remains to differentiate us. 

The Sartorius is the the front of the thigh, allows for flexing

The Latissimus Dorsi extends the wings

The Trapezius is perpendicular to the spine and the shoulders

The Iliotibialis assists the Sartorius in flexing legs and also extends thighs

The Deltoid is a muscle that can be triggered to raise or life wings

Biceps Brachii flexes wings

Quads or Quadriceps, a group of four muscles, helps extend the lower leg

Gastrocnemius is the primary muscle of the medial and dorsal sides of the drumstick

The Brachioradialis is the largest muscle on the superior side of the lower wings

The pectoralis can pull both wings ventrally

The Latissimus Dorsi extends wings

The Peronus Longus is the primary superficial muscle on the lateral side of the drumstick.

Triceps humeralis extends and straightens wings

Peronus Longus

Flexor Carpi Ulnaris flexes the "fingers" and runs from back to elbow from the side of the wing

Pectoralis minor pulls the shoulders down and forward

Tibialis Anterior flexes the foot

What happens when you stretch?

"Just as the total strength of a contracting muscle is a result of the number of fibers contracting, the total length of a stretched muscle is a result of the number of fibers stretched -- the more fibers stretched, the more length developed by the muscle for a given stretch."

This quote summarizes well the limits of the "stretchability" of our muscles. Our bodies are only as capable as the structures within it, so naturally our functions match the number of fibers which are the elements that elongate during the process of stretching a muscle.

"Proprioceptors (also called mechanoreceptors) are the source of all proprioception: the perception of one's own body position and movement."

Alas, a new word. Proprioceptors are also called mechanoreceptors because I believe mechano- refers to the mechanical movement of machines, which our bodies are capable of. Machines aren't necessarily robots or electronic devices. It's actually a simple term in physics that means something that is capable of work. Therefore, our body is a machine, as it can use energy to work!

"When an agonist contracts, in order to cause the desired motion, it usually forces the antagonists to relax."

We learned about the prime mover and the antagonist in a recent lecture, and this goes in further to explain why exactly they are opposites. Not only do they counteract each other in contracting of a muscle, but in stretching as well, they also do opposite actions to stabilize the body while maintaining the action of work and stretching. 

Relate and Review
I'm pretty sure most of us knew that muscles contracted and stretched, because we either learned about it a long time ago, or we just realized it naturally in our daily movements. It's really fascinating to actually find out why and how it works, and it's also really cool to know that it's not exactly a simple task. While picking up a pencil may seem like a difficult task, there's the neurons that deliver the message to move, there's the fibers in our muscles to contract and relax accordingly so we can bend down and wrap our fingers around the object of desire. I can't wait to find out more, because at this point I don't know much, and there's definitely a lot more to the muscular system than contracting and stretching. It's also super fun to be able to know a little bit of physics along the way!

Unit 6 Reflection

In this unit we really reinforced our understanding of Anatomy and Physiology. After all, this unit really reiterated the differences between structure and function within the bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments of the skeletal system. We are first off refreshed with a little taste of Unit 1, where we learned that bones are split between axial and appendicular. Then we learned about the regeneration of bones known as bone remodeling with osteocytes running it, osteoblasts breaking down bone, and osteoclasts rebuilding bone. Different bone types include long, short, flat, and irregular, which all serve different purposes in different parts of our body. We also learned about disorders, or essentially when our "perfect" system has some mishaps or undergoes accidents. Arthritis, osteoporosis, and scoliosis are examples of disorders, and accidents include complete and incomplete fractures. We then dived into a little bit of physics to learn how levers worked to gain an understanding of how our joints worked. We also learned about the different classifications. Functional classifications include synarthroses, amphiarthroses, and diarthroses, which reflects little to no movement, slight movement, and free movement, respectively. Structural classifications are fibrous, cartilagenous, and synovial, which fit relatively into the different functional classifications as well. For example, a synovial joint is almost always diarthroses.

Most of the labs we did in this unit were just investigations into the different bones in our bodies, but one particularly exciting one was the owl pellet lab. It was interesting to discover for our own the different bones in a different animal. Learning how their bones worked and fit together was also very insightful. I am actually really satisfied with the amount of knowledge we hopefully acquired from this unit. I've been thinking for a while now, and I really don't have any questions. I think we learned about this system rather holistically, and I don't see anything that we could've missed. I can't think of anything that I want to learn that I haven't already learned. I'd say good job to myself for learning the material, but I think the credit really goes to our teacher as he was able to fit all the right information into the time allotted for this unit.

I think I've been able to balance all my events rather well, although I could really use some more sleep. 20 time is going to be a blast, but I don't want to reveal anything about that quite yet.

All in all, I learned a lot about the skeletal system, and am really satisfied with everything I've learned.

Owl Pellet Lab

In this lab, my partner and I dissected the pellet of a barn owl, which is essentially the result of regurgitation after the digestion of flesh. The pellet usually contains bones and fur as those are not digested or broken down in the digestion process of the barn owl. We used forceps to dissect the pellets and discovered many bones after clearing away all the fur from them. We deduced that the bones in our pellet were from moles and voles. The first piece of evidence is the piece in the upper right hand corner in the following picture. The only bone that would look like this is the pelvis or hip bone of the mole. Additionally, the other bones in the picture resemble the fibulas and tibias of moles and voles. There are even joints, which look like holes, in them that make them clear to be the lower legs of moles and voles.


For a final touch, we discovered some teeth and some vertebrae. What this tells us is these organisms were definitely not birds, as birds do not have teeth, and their vertebrae is not nearly as large as the ones we found.



1) We noticed that the hip joints were similar to our hip joints as there is a hole for the liquid filled sac to allow for rotation and movement flexibility.
2) In the picture above, the vertebrae resemble ours as they stack with thin layers to prevent friction, just like ours.
3) Although it may seem really obvious, we(humans and moles)both have teeth. This alone, surprisingly, already distinguishes us from birds. Mammals are more closely related to mammals, not birds.


1) We walk on two legs, but moles and voles walk on four legs. Consequently, their hip bones are a lot longer than ours.
2) Again, we walk vertically. So our vertebrae is axial, or up and down. Their vertebrae doesnt exactly have to take as much stress from gravity as we do, so they can be smaller or weaker.
3) Some hip bones look very odd compared to ours, especially the one belonging to the moles. The small, almost rectangular shape really baffles me as it looks literally nothing like our own pelvis.

Unit 5 Reflection

This unit largely talked about more systems in our body that we probably know less about than others. The digestive system unit taught us about the structures and functions of our super long digestive track, shown in the lab in the following link.

http://mzguo.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-digestive-system-lab-how-long-is.html

Additionally, we learned about diabetes 1 and 2, which really shows us the importance of learning about health to actually stay healthy and avoid diabetes. Finally, we learned about the endocrine system and the lymphatic system, which also taught us a lot about the different ways our bodies take care of themselves. I already knew about our immune system for the most part, but I really found the Ted talk regarding sleep and the lymphatic system particularly interesting as it tied into the importance of sleep and actual connections to Alzheimer with evidence through research. One thing I liked about this unit was the further investigation/research we did at the end of the unit. It was brief and easy enough to not become a burden of an assignment, yet it broadened our horizons, especially when we were able to share and discuss with other students. It's all just part of the learning process, and that activity made it enjoyable and informative. I was really able to discover more about a topic I was genuinely curious about, and it was great to finally get some more information about prediabetes. In terms of my goals, so far I think I'm doing well. I've been pumping out covers, but I need to make sure I maintain my grades for all my classes. Glad I'm doing okay so far in this one. 

The Digestive System Lab- How long is your digestive system?

Mouth(Red)- 8 cm
Esophagus(Gold)- 45.6 cm
Stomach(White)- 20.5 cm
Small Intestine(String)- 650.24 cm
Large Intestine(Green)- 162.56 cm

Total Length- 886.9 cm or 8.869 m

1) For this lab, I measured ribbon according to the predicted length of these organs from my digestive system. Putting them all together gives me a bigger and a better picture of the size of my digestive system. According to the instructions, my small intestine is 4 times my height. Combined with my large intestine, that length would be 5 times my height. I always knew these organs were very long, but this gave me a definitive picture.

2) My height is 162.56 cm or 1.6256 m, which means approximately 5.4558 of me stretched out would be around the same length of my digestive system. My digestive system is able to fit inside my abdomen because there are so many folds to fit it inside the small space.

3) My guess is around 30 hours. According to MayoClinic.com, the entire digestive process can range from 24-72 hours. The average times are from 1-3 days, and that's quite a large range. My answer was in the range, but I guess I made my estimate based off what I believed was my time for my own full digestion. Factors that influence time digestion takes include amount of fiber eaten, amount of physical activity, amount of nicotine ingested, amount of caffeine drunk, certain prescription drugs.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/525519-the-normal-time-for-food-to-process-through-the-bowels-colon/

4) The mouth, esophagus, stomach, and small intestine are all involved in digestion, but small and large intestine do all of the absorption. Digestion is just the breaking down of food into smaller pieces, whether done through physical or chemical processes. Absorption is taking in nutrients and water, and using it as energy for the body.

5) If digestion happened abnormally quickly, would that indicate problems of absorption of nutrients?

New Year's Goals

New Year's Goals

I will get at least a 90% in this class. 

I will do every homework assignment and organize all my work.

I will study comprehensively before every test, always questioning and testing myself to prepare.

I will not procrastinate for homework or studying.

I will study early, so I don't cram the day before the test.

I will plan and gauge my time wisely so I can sleep early, and get enough sleep.

I will make sure I have time for all my classes.
I will balance my time so I have time for my other activities. 

I will make at least 15 covers before the end of the year, with at least 5 collaborations with other people. 

I will make at least 3 covers per month.

I will make time to work on covers every week.

I will plan ahead to work with people.

I will schedule and work out audio and visuals. 

I will pour more effort into my channel.