CHICKEN FOOT DISSECTION
Navjeet Badyal
Armaana Thapar
Gazal Sra
Ms. Kauldher
1-1
November 17th, 2015
CHICKEN FOOT DISSECTION
Question:
What are the key parts of the skeletal and muscular systems that work together to move a
chicken foot?
Hypothesis:
I think that if I pull the tendons of the chicken foot with tweezers, then the toes of the chicken
foot will move.
Materials:
• Chicken Foot
• Dissecting Pan
• Scissors
• Tweezers
• Blade
• Metric Ruler
Procedure:
1. Examine the external structure of the chicken foot. Describe the outer layer of the chicken
foot in detail.
2. Draw a diagram of the chicken foot.
3. Cut a straight line down the inside part of your chicken foot.
4. Look for shiny white strands, which are tendons.
5. Count how many tendons you can find in this part of the foot.
6. Pull on the tendons individually to see which tendons control the muscles in which toes.
7. Now cut at a knuckle or joint.
8. Observe between the bones at the joint. You will find tough tissues holding the bones
together, called ligaments.
9. Describe the ligaments.
10. Locate the cartilage. Cartilage is slippery, white tissue that can be found at the end of bones.
11. Dispose of the chicken foot according to the teacher’s directions.
12. Clean up and put away the equipment you have used and wash your hands thoroughly.
Observation:
1. Describe the outer layer of the chicken foot in detail.
The outer layer of the chicken foot was a light pink colour and didn’t have the same texture of
human feet. The chicken foot looked like it had scales but felt smooth and not rough. There is no
hair on the chicken foot. The top part of the foot was tough but the bottom part of the foot was
very soft.
2. How many toes does the chicken foot have?
The chicken foot has 4 toes.
3. Draw the entire chicken foot.
4. Describe 2 ways that the chicken foot is different from a human foot.
A chicken foot is different from a human foot because the chicken foot is smaller in overall size
but has longer toes. Also, the textures are very different.
5. Measure the longest talon in mm.
The longest talon is 10 mm.
6. Measure the longest toe of your chicken foot in mm.
The longest toe is 51 mm.
7. Measure the shortest toe of your chicken foot in mm.
The shortest toe is 23 mm.
8. Count how many tendons you can find in this part of the chicken foot.
I can count 7 tendons in this part of the chicken foot.
9. Is there a tendon that controls the muscles to the smallest toe only?
Yes, there is a tendon that controls the muscles to the smallest toe only.
10. Is there a tendon that controls the muscles to all of the toes?
No, there is not a tendon that controls the muscles to all of the toes.
11. Describe the ligaments.
The ligaments were white and fibrous.
Analysis:
1. In the picture, label the tendon.
2. Draw and label a ligament in the picture.
3. The tissue that connects muscle to bone is called a tendon.
4. The tissue that connects bone to bone is called a ligament.
5. The place in your body where 2 or more bones meet is called a joint.
6. The structure that sends messages from the brain (and spinal cord) to body parts such as
muscles is called a nerve.
7. List in order, how a message gets from the brain to the body part.
1st - Message from the brain
3rd - Tendon
2nd - Nerve
4th - Muscle
8. Why would a chicken (or human) not be able to walk if there was some damage to the
nerve in the foot.
A chicken (or human) wouldn’t be able to walk if there was some damage to the nerve in their
foot because, if there is damage to a nerve, the nerve won’t receive or pass on signals to parts of
the body. So, the nerve wouldn’t receive signals from the brain and pass on signals to the foot,
which would cause the chicken (or human) to not be able to walk.
9. Describe how the muscles move in the upper leg and lower leg.
When anterior muscles of the lower leg contracts, it helps in the movement of the ankle and
flexing the foot upward. When the posterior muscles contract, it helps in the movement of the
ankle and extend the foot downward.
10. Why are there upper and lower bands of muscles in the upper and lower leg?
There are upper and lower bands of muscles in the upper and lower leg because they work
opposite to each other and help in the movement of the leg. For example, when the hamstring
muscle of the upper leg contracts, the lower leg flexes. At the same time the quadricep muscle
relaxes. The same thing happens in the lower leg muscles.
11. What is the difference between a tendon and a ligament?
Tendons are tissues that attach muscle to bone and ligaments are tissues that hold the bones
together where they meet at a joint.
Conclusion:
The key parts of the skeletal and muscular systems that work together to move a chicken foot are
the tendons. My hypothesis was correct because during the dissection, when I pulled one of the
tendons that’s connected to a muscle, the toes of the chicken foot would move. Also, I found out
that ligaments stabilize and sometimes limits the mobility of joints.
Errors:
The errors that could've happened during the dissection were:
1. Contaminating objects because we were using raw chicken, which could lead to salmonella.
2. Cutting the tendons because then you won’t be able to check if the toes move by pulling the
tendons.
3. Rushing could’ve caused people to not look and follow the instructions carefully. Also, not
paying attention.