9th through 12th-grade students were able to participate in a heart dissection in their Biomedical Science class. Being able to dissect a heart gives you a chance to get an idea on how your heart works. Seeing the different parts of the heart, and having someone explain to you how each part works, may get you intrigued. Not everyone thinks it is “fun” dissecting a heart though, others may think it’s repulsive.

“We cut a part of the heart open and looked at the different sections. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but it gave me a lot of information about the heart,” freshman, Skyla Charette, said.

Cutting open a heart isn’t the easiest thing to do, you have to be precise so you don’t cut something you need to look at. During the dissection, students need to be careful with the tools they are using so they don’t injure themselves or others. The use of a scalpel can be particularly dangerous if students are reckless as they can cut themselves or their partner. Wearing safety goggles and gloves is also a big part in a dissection. The goggles keep any liquids from hitting you in the eye, and the gloves keep any dangerous bacteria off your hands.

“Students have to use safety goggles because the preservative (carosafe) from the animals can’t get in their eyes. The preservative from the animal can get on students’ hands so that’s why they use gloves, plus some students don’t like touching the objects they dissect,” Dr Laurie Coniglione, said.

People have different ways of learning, some prefer visually and others would rather have hands on. Seeing diagrams or pictures may not be enough for you, because you would like to experience things like the heart dissection yourself.

“I learned about where the different parts and chambers of the heart are physically located instead of just seeing it on a diagram. I feel like it’s easier to actually see a thing like this in person, rather than a picture. I’m a physical learner; I learn better when I’m able to touch and feel things. So, I prefer doing the dissection rather than doing it virtually,” junior, Asa Joyner said.