This document provides instructions for a chicken wing dissection lab. The aim is to investigate the structure of a chicken wing. Equipment needed includes a chicken wing, dissecting tray, scalpel, scissors, forceps, and rubbish bag. Safety precautions to prevent injury include filling out a risk assessment. The method describes separating the skin from the muscle using scissors and scalpel, inspecting and pulling muscles, and cutting through joints to observe tendons and cartilage. Observations should be recorded and photos taken.

1. CHICKEN WING DISSECTION
YEAR 8 – BODY SYSTEMS

2. AIM
• To investigate the
structure of a chicken
wing.

3. EQUIPMENT
• Chicken Wing
• Dissecting Tray
• Newspapers
• Scalpel
• Scissors
• Forceps
• Rubbish Bag

4. RISK ASSESSMENT
Risk
Injury
Prevention
Fill out a risk assessment for your experiment

5. METHOD
1. Place the chicken wing
on the tray.
2. Using the scissors and
scalpel, gently pull
away the skin from the
chicken wing. Put the
tip of the scalpel blade
between the skin and
the muscle to separate
the skin from the
muscle.

6. METHOD
3. When you have
completely removed the
skin from one joint,
inspect it carefully.
Follow each muscle near
this joint from one end of
the muscle to the other.
Try pulling on the muscle.
4. Use scissors to cut
through the joint. As you
do so, look for tendons
and shiny white cartilage.

7. METHOD
5. Take a photo of your
chicken wing or draw a
sketch of the chicken
wing as you saw it.
6. Place your gloves and
your chicken pieces in
the plastic bag the
teacher has put out for
you.

8. RESULTS
• Write your observations here and display any photos
here.

9. DISCUSSION
1. Sketch one of the joints in the chicken wing. Label the
bones, the tendons and the muscles. Show clearly
where the muscle inserts (attaches to the bones). Use
arrows to show how the bones move when the muscle
is shortened.
2. Feel the cartilage with a gloved hand. Does the
cartilage feel rough or slippery? Why does it need to be
slippery?
3. Is cartilage harder or softer than bone?

10. CONCLUSION
• Write a conclusion for your experiment here.