Sheep Eye Dissection Analysis

I worked with Mary and Eric in this lab, so we have the same pictures:)

The eye contains many important parts that have to work together to produce clear vision. In this lab, we dissected a sheep eye and identified the different parts of the eye and how they all worked together (aka we observed the Anatomy and Physiology of the Eye)

The sclera is the white outer coat of the eye that protects the eye from injury because it is very tough (observed by feeling  the sclera in the eye). It also serves as an attachment for muscles that move the eye. 

The cornea is the transparent part of the sclera so you can see. It begins the light focusing process and does not contain any blood vessels. It receives nutrients from the aqueous humor. 

We noticed that the eye was covered with fat, which we did not expect. It took us a long time to peel off all the fat from the sheep eye.

Identified in the picture is the external eye muscle. It controls the movement of the eyeball and directs the eye to a point of interest. 

The vitreous humor is a large gel like portion of the eyeball that occupies the space behind the lens and in front of the retina at the back of the eye.

The Retina is located near the optic nerve and it receives light that the lens has focused and converts it into neural signals which it sends on to the brain for processing. It looks like a thin layer of tissues.

The Choroid lies between the retina and sclera and provides nourishment for the back of the eye. The choroid is interesting because there are pigment cells within the choroid that absorb stray light.

The Blind Spot is a small portion of the visual field of each eye.

The lens is important because it is involved in changing the focal distance of the eye so that it can focus on objects at various distances. The lens changes shape.

The Ciliary Body  produces and secretes aqueous humor that is essential to regulate the pressure within the eye. It contains muscles that act on the crystalline lens to change its shape and shift the focus of the eye from far to near. The Ciliary Body has two portions called the pars plicate and the pars plana.




The suspensory ligament of the eyeball functions to support the eye and prevents downward displacement of the eyeball



The iris is the colored part of the eye that controls light levels inside the eye. The pupil os the round opening in the center of the iris. The size of the pupil determines the amount of light that enters the eye.

Below is a picture of all the parts of the eye clearly identified in one picture. Notice that this is a human eye.