Cow Eye Dissection - Louise's Perspective

On May 16, 2007 after school, 40 Grade 8 students and the 3 Grade 8 science teachers Mr.Foster, Ms.Robbins, and Ms.Lebeznick gathered in Mr.Foster's room to perform a scientific discovery, dissecting a cow's eyeball. This was exciting, as a lot of the participants were considering entering a career field of science or medicine. As we rushed to get a seat, we were handed styrofoam trays, and were instructed ''Do all your work over the tray, you don't want eye juice squirting on you!'' This was slightly worrisome.

We slipped on our protective gloves, and we were handed our eyeballs, dripping with a liquid that we were instructed not to lick of our hands (?) Some eyes were brown, some were white (due to the amount of time they had been preserved). Some eyes were much bigger than others, the largest was named Theodore! Just looking at the outside of the eye was extraordinary! You could see the squishy cornea (which was fun to poke with your finger!), the eye lid, and even eyelashes for some on the front! All around the eye you could see fat and muscle, which had very different textures, even through the gloves! You could even see the optic nerve, which looked a lot like a lollipop stick!

We began by cutting off all the fat and muscle surrounding the eye, until we were left with just the sclera on the outside. We then made a small inscision with a scalpel at the top of the eye, stuck our scissors in, and cut the entire thing in half! When we opened it up, just as we had been warned, a bunch of liquid (the vitreous humour) squirted out. While trying not to spray ourselves (and each other!), we emptied out all the juice.

Then we saw the real highlight of the whole adventure, the inside! The lens was held in between the cillary muscles and surrounded by the aqueous humour (almost jelly-like after having been boiled). Looking at the back, you could see a turquoise-coloured coating, which looked really gorgeous! After cutting the aqueous humor away from the front, we could actually feel the inside of the cornea! We were on our own from there. We could cut open anything we wanted to see what was inside. The lens looked almost like an onion when sliced open, and the optic nerve had a whole bunch of little tubes on the inside! Several students asked if they could keep the lens and the optic nerve! After awhile of this it was time to clean up and wash our hands :( We dumped the remains of the eye after taking one last fond glance at it...

This whole experience was truly phenomenal! I really appreciate the time that the science teachers put in to give us this opportunity! I will never look a cow the same way again! A quote from Ms.Robbins : ''Next time you see a cow, you can tell him 'I looked inside your eye!' '' ~Louise

Cow Eyeball Dissection - Meghan's View

On Wednesday, May 16, 2007, Forty Grade 8 students each performed a cow eyeball dissection that took place after school. Since my career goal in life is to pursue the path of ophthalmology, I have found the activity phenomenal. The atmosphere in the room was very energetic as we all anxiously awaited for our own eyeball to work on. Some students – mostly people from my table – tried their best not to vomit or pass out as they examined their eyeball.

To start things off, we all prepared ourselves by putting on our latex gloves and got right to work. First, we began by cutting away the fat that surrounded the eyeball. This was very time consuming, but in the end, if you had something that looked like a lollipop, it was done perfectly. Once all of our eyeballs were bare, we began the dissection. Second, we made a small 1-2 cm incision at the top of the eyeball with our scalpel. Third, we took our scissors and began cutting the eyeball until they were in two halves.

Now, our adventure begins! After the dissection, there were various different parts that you can see and feel. We were able to discover where the vitreous humor, lens, retina, cornea, aqueous, pupil and the iris were. Then by slowly removing the layer of retina, we were able to examine even more suspicious parts of the eye.

Throughout the activity, there were so many interesting substances and objects that we found in a cow eyeball. An interesting thing that I found during my experiment is that they look almost exactly like human eyeballs. Overall, I had found it to be an amazing experience. After this activity, I will never look at a cow eyeball the same way again!
- Meghan

Glenview Senior Science Grade 8

Exciting things are happening here at Glenview in the Science Department. Tomorrow we will have 40 students try their hand at an optional cow eyeball dissection. These students were selected out of a pool of over 85 names by a lottery as the interest in participating was greater than the number of spots we had. The dissection will be after school and each student will get an eyeball to work on by themselves.

The question has already come up as to why would we encourage students into vivisection (dissection of once living animals) however I strongly believe in the practice. Our samples come from Boreal where they take steps to ensure the animals are killed by humane methods. We will discuss this process at the beginning of the session and highlight that these organisms have given their lives to help us learn.

Beyond that it should be a really eye opening session (ha ha).

If you are interested in doing a virtual dissection there are several options out there. You could buy a subscription to Froguts (http://www.froguts.com/) where they have the eyeball dissection or try Netfrog (http://frog.edschool.virginia.edu/) for frog dissection kits.

Thanks for reading,