Studying For The Practical

Once you have identified all of the muscles required, start studying for your practical! Depending on how many muscles you have to identify, you may need to go to class before or after school in order to get a sufficient amount of studying time.

Here are some simple studying tips!

• Quiz your Partner! During class, work with your partner (if you don't have one you should work with others) to identify muscles in a certain  of the body. Have one partner quiz the other by point to a muscle and asking for the name of it. Or you can ask your partner, "Where is the _______ muscle?" Here is an example of two students who are working together to study:

Jason and Larry working on their pig David!

• Have a Mock Practical! Ask the other students in your class if they would want to participate in a mock practical in order to help study. If you ask your teacher the guidelines or logistics of the practical you can  have a more realistic mock practical. Around one of the large tables in the classroom, set up about 5 or 6 fetal pigs (set up depending on how many muscles you have to identify and how much time you have). Have each group who is participating work on a specific area of the pig to put numbered pins (like the ones below) into different muscles. Also have each group write an answer key to the muscles, and then you are ready to begin! 

Numbered pins for the practical

Students working on placing pins before the
mock practical

• Work on a different pig! Talk to other kids in your class about switching pigs in order to make sure you know the muscles. By looking at a different pig you are able to see the muscle in different sized pigs where the muscles may look different. Some of your classmates may have a isolated muscle that is in better shape than your own. 

Here is Larry looking at Stanley's leg

• Think of Clues! Talk to other groups to discuss ways in which they remember the location of certain muscles. Some people may have good ways to remember muscles for the practical which can help if you have a limited amount of time on the practical.
• Look at our website! We have worked hard to explain in detail the muscles, along with adding pictures that correctly identify the muscles. Also we have a few quizzes that may be helpful in studying!

Hope all of this helps, good luck and we hope you have a fun adventure with your own pig!

Shea, Eliza, and Stanley

Step 9: Inner Thigh Muscles

Below is the Vastus Medialis which originates from the femur. 

Helpful Hint: Make sure you don't get confused between the Vastus medialis and the Vastus lateralis! Remember you can only see the Vastus medialis from the Medial view. Same for the Vastus lateralis.

Vastus medialis

Here is the Rectus femoris again, shown from the Medial view. Click here to look at Step 8 for more information on this muscle.

Rectus femoris, Medial view

Next to the Vastus medialis is the Sartorius. This thin muscle can be hard to isolate. We suggest reflecting the Gracilis before, although it is not crucial. Look below for information about the Gracilis.

Arrows pointing to Sartorius when the Gracilis is
 reflected and unreflected 

The Gracilis is a superficial muscle in the inner thigh. It originates from the ventral surface of the pubis and inserts on the proximal third of the tibia. This muscle has to be reflected in order to identify deeper muscles.

Gracilis 

The Semimembranosus is deeper than the Gracilis and more easily identified once the Gracilis is reflected. This muscle originates from the pelvis and helps with flexing the knee joint.

Semimembranosus

The Adductor magnus can only be isolated when the Gracilis is reflected. It originates from the ventral surface of the pubis and inserts in the femur, along much of its medial side. 

Helpful Hint: The Adductor magnus can often be mistaken for the Pectineus muscle as well, however there is a small break between the two muscles. Be careful not to confuse these two!

Adductor magnus to the left, Pectineus mucle to the right

The Semitendinosus can be seen from both the Lateral and Medial views of the thigh. It is very thick and  inserts in the tibia.

Arrow pointing to Semitendinosus from Medial view

Here is a video of the thigh from the Medial view.

Step 8: Thigh Muscles

The Tensor fasciae latae originates from the crest of the ilium and inserts over the tibia.

The Gluteus medius is parallel to the spine and acts to extend the hip and abduct the thigh. This muscle is much larger than the Gluteus maximus on the fetal pig.

Fun Fact: On humans the size of these muscles are switched; meaning that the Gluteus maximus is much larger than the Gluteus medius.

 The Biceps femoris is very larger and originated from the pelvis, inserts along the tibia. It helps to flex the knee joint and it is located where you would think the Gluteus maximus would be on a human. Make sure you find the break between this muscle and the Gluteus maximus (which is superior to the Biceps femoris).

When viewing the lateral view of the thigh, you are able to identify the Vastus lateralis and the Rectus femoris. They appear to be one single muscle, however there is a break that separates them.

 The Rectus femoris is thick and can be seen in both the lateral view and medial view of the thigh. It originates from the ilium and inserts in the tibia.

The Vastus lateralis is originates from the lateral surface of the femur. This muscle works with the other upper thigh muscles to extend the lower leg and the knee joint.

The Rectus femoris is the thick muscle above the
blunt probe. The Vastus lateralis is in between the
blunt probe and the tweezers.

Here are all of the upper thigh muscles from a lateral view

Here is a video showing the Lateral view of the thigh!