Practical 4: Respiratory system of mammals.

Objective:

(1) (2) (3) (4)

(5)

To train students to dissect small mammal To train students how to use dissecting instruments To increase students skill in displaying, drawing and labeling respiratory organs To enable students to examine the structures of the main organs involved in respiration (lung, trachea, diaphragm, rib cage and intercostal muscles) To increase students understanding of the process of gas exchange in animals

Theory

Respiration is a vital living process carried out by all living organisms. Respiration can be divided into two stages that are external respiration and internal respiration. External respiration, commonly known as breathing, is the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between an animal and its environment. Most animals use specialized organs or organ systems, such as lungs, trachea, or gills, for external respiration. Internal respiration is the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide between blood and cells in different tissues of an animal's body. Internal respiration occurs in animals with a circulation system. Respiration is the breaking down of food to produces energy for the vital activities af all living things. The main substrate for respiration is glucose. There are two types of cellular respiration in the cell which is aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration. Aerobic respiration is the breaking down of glucose in the presence of oxygen to release chemical energy. Anaerobic respiration is a type of cell respiration which occurs in the absence of oxygen to release energy. Each organism has its own respiratory structure for breathing. On the surface of the respiratory structures, gaseous exchange by diffusion occurs. Respiratory system is a body system with 5 functions of providing extensive surface area for gas exchange between air & blood, moving air to & from exchange surfaces of lungs, protecting respiratory surfaces from outside environment, producing sounds, and participating in olfactory sense; components are nose, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, lungs, and alveoli. (OXFORD FAJAR STPM Textbook)

Material and apparatus:

1) Rats/guinea pig/white mice 2) Dissecting instruments 3) Dissecting board 4) Dissecting microscope 5) Hand lens 6) Transparent plastic ruler 7) Thread

Procedure:

a) Dissection of the mammalian respiratory system

1) The rat is pinned to the dissecting board with the ventral surface uppermost. 2) A mid-ventral incision is made through the skin and is cut forward as far as lower jaw and the backwards to the anus. 3) The skin is holding with forceps, the connective tissues are cut away between the skin and the body wall as far as possible around the animals, body and the skin is pinned back. 4) The ventral and lateral thoracic walls is cut away to expose the thoracic cavity 5) The thymus gland is removed. 6) The muscles and tissues of the neck is cut away to expose the trachea and larynx. 7) The larynx is cut above. The connective tissues attached to the trachea is cut off. 8) The heart, lungs, trachea, esophagus and larynx is removed together. 9) The esophagus is separated carefully from the heart. The larynx, trachea and lungs are pinned to the board. 10) A large labelled drawing of the structures that i have taken out is made.

Questions:

1.

(a)

How many pairs of ribs does this animal have?

(b)

How does the rib cage function during gas exchange in this animal

2.

(a)

Descibe the appearance and characteristic of a diaphragm

(b)

What is the importance of this characteristic of the diaphragm in relation to its function during gas exchange?

3.

Describe the appearance of the left and right lungs. Squeeze the lungs and note its texture. Place it in hot water. The air within the lung expands causing it to float.

4.

Measure the length of the trachea (from the larynx to the point where it branches into bronchus). .. ..

Discussion :

Rat has pair of lungs, a pair of bronchi and a trachea. The inspiration starts from the nasal cavities, which are separated from one another by the nasal septum and from the buccal cavity by the palate. The pharynx is divided into naso-pharynx and oropharynx. Nasopharynx is present above the palate and the oro-pharynx behind the buccal cavity. Glottis is the opening from the pharynx into the larynx, or voice box. The glottis is closed during swallowing with a gate-like epiglottis, to prevent the passage of food into the larynx and lower respiratory passages. Lungs are located on each side of the heart. Lungs are covered by the membrane called visceral pleura. Only lobe is present in the left lung and four lobes in the right lung. The four lobes are cranial lobe, medial lobe, caudal lobe and accessory lobe. Trachea branches into a right and left bronchus and each bronchi lead to the lungs where they further branch into bronchioles. Trachea is the windpipe which connects the larynx to the lungs and allows for the passage of air during respiration. The lungs have numerous microscopic functional units called alveoli. These structures are involved in pulmonary respiration. Alveoli form many small sacs, giving them a large surface area. The walls are very thin and they are surrounded by capillary beds. All of this makes them well-adapted for the exchange of gas between the blood and the lungs. The ribs and the diaphragm play a major role in the breathing movements inspiration and expiration.

Conclusion :

1) The respiratory of rat involves lungs and it is like human respiratory system. 2) The organ that are involved in the mechanism of rat respiratory system are : Mouth and Nostrill Larynx Trachea Bronchus Lung Diaphragm

Bibliography

1) TutorVista.com. (2010). Retrieved February 15, 2011, from TutorVista.com web site: http://www.tutorvista.com 2) (2009). In B. T. Hong, Biology Form 4 (pp. 196-198). Perak Darul Ridzuan: Longman. 3) Net Industries. (2011). Retrieved March 11, 2011, from Net Industries web site: http://science.jrank.org 4) Quizlet LLC. (2011). Retrieved March 11, 2011, from Quizlet LLC web site: http://quizlet.com 5) (2008). Respiratory system. In L. S. Leong, Biology Volume 1 . Selangor Darul Ehsan: Oxford Fajar.