PRACTICAL

CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Objectives

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

1. identify loose connective tissue, dense irregular connective tissue, dense regular
connective tissue, adipose tissue, and mucous tissue,
2. identify collagen fibres, elastic fibres, and reticular fibres,
3. identify fibroblasts and adipose cells.

You will be provided with the following slides:

Tendon
Skin
Elastic tissue
Umbilical cord

1. Skin

The skin is made up of 2 layers: epidermis and dermis.

Underlying the skin is the hypodermis or the subcutaneous layer.

The epithelium of the skin is ________________________________________________.

The dermis can be divided into 2 parts. The part immediately deep to the epidermis is the
papillary layer. Deep to the papillary layer is the reticular layer.
The papillary layer is made up of loose connective tissue.
The reticular layer is made up of dense irregular connective tissue.

Observe the skin under X4 objective to have a general view of the skin. You should be
able to distinguish the 2 layers of the skin; the epidermis and the dermis. You should also
be able to identify the hypodermis.

Next, view under X10 objective. Try to distinguish between the loose connective tissue
of the papillary layer and the dense irregular connective tissue of the reticular layer.
Describe the differences between the 2 layers of the dermis.
Can you identify the collagen fibres?
What is the colour of the collagen fibres?

Next, change the objective to X40.

Can you identify the fibroblasts?
What is the function of fibroblasts
Draw the fibroblast.

View the hypodermis under X4 objective, followed by X10 objective and finally under
X40 objective lens.
The cells that predominate this layer are the adipocytes.
How many types of adipose tissue are there? Name them.

Which type of adipose tissue are you observing?

Draw the adipose tissue.

Why is there a large clear area in the adipocytes?

What is the name given to describe the appearance of the adipose cells?

2. Tendon

Name the connective tissue forming the tendon.

View the slide under X4, followed by X10 and finally under X40 objective lenses.
What are the differences between the connective tissue of tendon and that of the reticular
layer of the skin?
Draw the section of tendon under X10 and X40.

3. Elastic tissue

This is a section of elastic tissue.

Where in the body can elastic tissue be found?
Draw and label the section under X10 and X40 objective lenses.

4. Umbilical cord

Umbilical cord is made up of a special form of connective tissue known as mucous

tissue. The mucous tissue is referred as Wharton’s jelly.
It contains an abundance of ground substance with very few fibres. The cells are mainly
fibroblasts.
Draw a labelled diagram of the Wharton’s jelly.