Cow Eye Dissection

1) Examine the outside of the eye. See how many parts of the eye you can identify. You should be able to find the whites (or sclera) and the clear covering over the front of the eye (the cornea). You should also be able to identify the fat and muscle surrounding the eye.

sclera ____

cornea _____
2) Make the first incision where the sclera meets the cornea. Cut until the clear fluid (aqueous humor) is released.

aqueous humor _______
3) Rotate the eye and cut around the cornea. Be careful not to cut too deep or you may cut the lens. As the cornea starts to cut free, hold the cornea in the center and make the last cuts around it.
4) With the cornea removed, the next step is to pull out the iris (A muscle that controls the amount of light that enters the eye) Place one finger in the center of the eye. Find the iris and pull it back. It should come out in one piece.

iris ______
5) After enough incisions have been made in the sclera, you should be able to remove the lens

lens ____

the lens makes the newspaper look _______________________.
7) Turn the eye inside out. The thin tissue on the back of the eye is the retina. The shiny blue-green material is the tapetum (it reflects light back through the retina to help with night vision).

retina ______
8) Find the spot where all the retina's nerves collect. It is called the blind spot. This is where all the nerves go out the back of the eye, forming the optic nerve. The optic nerve carries information from the retina to the brain.

optic nerve _____