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