Name:_________________________________Period:_____Date:_____

Ms. Randall Anatomy & Physiology

Background:
The anatomy of the human eye can be better shown and understood by the actual dissection of an eye. One eye
of choice for dissection, that closely resembles the human eye, is that of the sheep. Sheep eyes are removed at
the time the animal is slaughtered and then preserved for later use. Differences between the two eye types will
be mentioned as the dissection is completed.

Objective: To compare and relate the anatomy and functions of a sheep eye and the human eye.

Materials: sheep eye, dissecting pan, surgeon’s gloves, dissecting kit, paper towels.

Procedure

Step 1: Wash the sheep eye in running water to remove the preservative
fluid. Dry the eye with paper towel. Examine the front of the eye and
locate the eye-lid, cornea, sclera (white of the eye) and fatty tissue.
Examine the back of the eye and find extrinsic muscle bundles, fatty
tissue and the optic nerve.

The four extrinsic muscles (humans have six) move the sheep eye while
the fatty tissue cushions the eye. If the optic nerve is not visible use the
probe to move the fatty tissue around until the nerve is exposed.

Step 2: Use your scissors to cut away the eye-lid, muscle and fatty
tissue from both the front and rear surfaces of the eye. Be careful not
to remove the optic nerve.

Step 3: Cut along the surface of the sclera until all the tissue is
removed and your specimen looks similar to the photographs you see
here. The sclera is very tough so you do not need to worry about
cutting into this layer of the eye. When you have finished removing
the tissue surrounding the eye identify the sclera, cornea, optic
nerve, and the remaining extrinsic muscle remnants. The cloudy
nature of the cornea is caused by the death of this tissue. It is transparent in the living state.

Step 4: Place your eye specimen in the dissection pan. Turn the
specimen so the cornea is on the left and the optic nerve is on
your right. Select a place to make an incision of the sclera
midway between the cornea and optic nerve. Use the point of a
very sharp scalpel to make a small cut through the sclera. Fluid
should slowly ooze out of the eyeball when you have cut deeply
enough. You will be reminded of how tough the sclera is when
you make this cut.
Step 5: Insert the point of the scissors into the slit made by the scalpel blade
and cut the sclera with a shallow snipping motion; you do not want to cut the
other tissues of the eye. Turn the eye as you continue the cutting action. Cut
the sclera all the way around the ball of the eye. You will need to support the
eye in the palm of your hand while you complete this step of the dissection.
Do not be surprised if some fluid from the eye oozes from the slit as you
make this cut.

Step 6: Arrange the two hemispheres of the eye as you see in the above photograph. Observe the jelly-like
vitreous humor that fills the center of the eye. It is transparent in the living eye but might be cloudy in the
preserved specimen. The vitreous humor along with the aqueous humor helps to maintain the shape of the eye.

Step 7: Take the back piece of the eye. The retina (which contains
the rods and cones) lines the back cavity of the eye. Use your probe to
lift and pull the retina back from the underlying choroid layer. See
the photograph on the right side above. Notice that the retina is only
firmly attached to the choroid at one place. This region is the optic
disc or blind spot. Here the nerve fibers leave the retina and form the
optic nerve which is directly behind the blind spot.

Step 8: Take the front part of the eye. Use your tweezers and probe
to remove the vitreous humor from the anterior hemisphere of the eye.
Try not to disturb the lens that is just below the vitreous humor.

Step 9: Removal of the vitreous humor reveals the lens, ciliary body
and suspensory ligaments. In the normal condition the lens is
transparent. The normal lens is convex shaped and somewhat elastic.
It is held in place by the suspensory ligaments that in turn join with
the smooth muscle containing ciliary body.

Step 10: Remove the lens by pulling it free from its attachments.
Note the shape of the lens, its stiffness and opaqueness.
Step 11: When the lens is removed, an opening, allowing light to enter the eye is seen. This opening, the pupil
is located in the center of the iris. Note the oblong shape of the sheep pupil;
in humans the pupil is circular. The back side of the iris can be seen just
above the pointer in the photograph. A second cavity or space is present
between the iris and the cornea. This space is filled with a second semi-
liquid fluid, the aqueous humor. This fluid, like the vitreous humor helps to
maintain the shape of the eye.
Observations

Make a drawing of the sheep eye in cross section; this is through the middle of the eye looking at the eye
from the side.
Label the following:

 Cornea
 Sclera
 Retina
 Lens
 Optic nerve
 Vitreous humor
 Aqueous humor

Fill in the chart below:

STRUCTURE FUNCTION

Cornea

Sclera

Lens

Optic nerve

Pupil

Vitreous humor

Aqueous humor
Analysis

1. The sheep is a mammal just like humans; however human eyes are not quite the same as the sheep eye.
Describe the differences.

2. State 2 differences between the preserved sheep eye and how the eye would be while alive.

3. The sheep eye has a reflective coating on the back of the eye. Research what this is and why sheep have it.

4. What is the liquid or watery substance that comes out of the eye? What is the purpose or function of this
watery substance?

5. What do the ciliary muscles of the ciliary body do for the eye?

6. What is the purpose of the optic nerve?