Learning the Dissecting Planes

Charles T. Buzek               John Spry School
                               2400 S. Marshall
                               Chicago IL 60603
                               (312) 345-1700

Objectives:

This paper is designed for junior high students.
Students will learn the basic vocabulary used in dissection.
Students will learn how to orient themselves on a three dimensional figure.
Students will develop the manual dexterity necessary to use scalpels in class.

Materials Needed:

Cucumber
Scalpels
Human anatomy wall chart

Procedure:

It will be necessary to turn the cucumber into an animal.  This can be done  
easily by cutting out holes on the anterior part of the cucumber to symbolize 
eyes The cucumber is now a "frog".  The presence of the eyes now gives the frog 
an up & down position.  These are referred to as the dorsal & ventral side of 
the animal.  The location of the eyes also gives the organism a front & back.  
These are referred to as anterior & posterior.  It should be noted at this point 
that the cucumber/frog can be made more lifelike by placing short straws where 
legs would normally be located.  At this point students will be ready to begin 
using their scalpels.  With scalpels in hand the students will be directed to 
make a shallow cut starting from the anterior end along the ventral side of the 
frog.  For those students too young to use a cutting instrument it may be 
replaced with a Magic Marker.  By the end of this part of the exercise the 
students should have made a shallow incision from the anterior to the posterior 
end of the frog.  This cut is known as the sagittal incision.  Now they will be 
instructed to cut midway on the ventral side of the organism from their left to 
right side.  This is known as the transverse incision.  The human anatomy wall 
chart can be used to quiz the students about their knowledge of the dissecting 
terminology.  For this exercise the terms distal & proximate should be 
introduced.  The teacher can then ask the students to locate a certain organ by 
giving them clues using the vocabulary they just learned. 

Follow Up:

These terms are important to the study of life sciences & should be reviewed.
The teacher might consider all situations in a normal classroom context that
would require directions.  These terms should be used in these situations.  For
example students should refer these terms to their own persons while they are
in the class.  Students have ventral and dorsal sides in addition to anterior
and posterior directions.  Objects in relation to the student's person might
be termed as distal or proximate to them.  The guiding principle for the
retention of a scientific vocabulary is, as in any language, it's constant use.