Heart Dissection Questions

Name___________________________ Date__________ Period___________

Heart Dissection

1. Why are pig hearts used to study the anatomy of the human heart?

2. How can you tell which side of the heart is the ventral surface?

3. How many chambers are found in the mammalian heart? What other group of organisms would have this same number of chambers?

4. What is the advantage in having this number of chambers compared to organisms with fewer number of chambers?

5. Which chambers are the pumping chambers of the heart?

6. Which chambers are the receiving chambers of the heart?

7. How do the walls of the atria compare with the walls of the ventricles and why are they different?

8. What is the purpose of heart valves?

9. Name & compare the heart valves found between the upper & lower chambers of the right and left sides of the heart.

10. Vessels that carry blood away from the heart are called __________, while __________ carry blood toward the heart.

11. Which artery is the largest and why?

12. What is the purpose of the coronary artery and what results if there is blockage in this vessel?

13. Use the diagram of the heart below to trace blood flow through the heart:

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