How to Dissect a Pig

In high school biology, your teacher may require you to dissect a pig. This is because a pig's internal anatomy nearly resembles a human's. The size of the organs also make them easy to locate and examine.

Instructions

1. Practice hygiene. Wear your laboratory gloves and keep your hands away from your mouth or eyes. Don't slosh the preservative around in the pig buckets. Dispose of pig parts in hazardous waste containers.

2. Make your first incision from the top of the throat to the bottom of the umbilicus. Slice just through the layer of muscle. Don't cut too deep or the internal organs can be damaged.

3. Slice a half-circle above the umbilicus. Continue the cut by making 2 more slices posteriorly through the hind limbs. Don't cut the scrotum if your pig is a male.

4. Apply a little more pressure to the incisions until the internal organs are exposed. Make 2 additional incisions so that you can fold back the skin of the pig. Drain the fluid into the bucket and rinse out the cavity of the pig.

5. Use your scalpel to make a fifth incision beneath the rib cage. It should run horizontally from left to right. You should now see the diaphragm that divides the thoracic and abdominal cavities.

6. Pull back the flaps and secure them underneath the pig. Study the neck, thoracic and internal organs of your pig.