Information
There are 206 bones in your body and each one has its own name!
We are not born with 206 bones, but many more. A baby has 150 more bones at birth, and over time certain bones grow together. This soft bone like material is cartilage. A good example of this joining is in your skull. At birth a baby has "soft spots." These gaps remain open as a baby's brain grows. When a child is about two years old, the bones fuse together and form the 29 bones in our skull. Other bones fuse together and get hard. That is why we start of at birth with over 300 bones and end up with 206.
The skeletal system in adults weighs about twenty pounds. Each individual bone does not weigh that much considering you have 206 of them. The largest bone, the femur, is your thigh bone. It makes up one quarter of your height. If you are 60 inches (5 feet) then your femur is fifteen inches long. If paleontologists, scientists who study the remains of people and animals, were to find remains of a person, they would measure the femur to
see how tall that person was while they were alive. If they find a femur measuring sixteen inches they would know that person was 64 inches or five feet four inches.
The pelvis is your hip bones. There are several bones joined together to form the hips. The older we get bones in this area fuse together. Women have larger pelvises than men to help in childbirth. Paleontologists can measure the pelvis to determine if a person was male or female.
Our hands and feet have the most number of bones. Each hand has 27 bones; there are 19 bones in our toes, six in each ankle or 25 in each foot all together. That is a combination of 126 bones in our arms/hands and legs/feet. That leaves 80 bones for the rest of our body. There are many bones that work together to help us move. Each finger has three bones called phalanges; however our thumb has only two. The palms of our hands have five long bones called metacarpals. Our metatarsals help us walk, keep us balanced and bear our weight. We use our hands much more than we use our feet.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is caused by a repetitive use of our wrist. The tendons running through our wrist becomes inflamed and presses on the nerves. This inflammation causes severe pain, numbness and weakness in the hand.
Bones are joined together and where they connect is called joints. This helps with movement. The joints are: ball and socket like your shoulder and hip; the hinge joint like your elbow and knee; the gliding joint like your spine which allows for small movement; the pivot joint, allows you to tilt your head side to side; and the saddle joint found in your thumb. This joint allows us to pick up small objects. We also have ellipsoid joints in our wrist. It is similar to a ball and socket joint.
Project: Poster Child
Objective: The student will produce a poster depicting the skeletal system and its functions.
Materials: Mosby's Anatomy Coloring Book or Human Anatomy Coloring Book by Margaret Matt, Crayons, colored pencils, magic markers, glue, scissors, Poster paper/poster board 20" x 26" or larger.
Bones to include
:
Cranium femur mandible patella
Tibia vertebral column ribs fibula
Clavicle sternum pelvis tarsal
Humerus metatarsal radius phalanges
Ulna carpal metacarpal
Types of bones
1. Flat
2. Long
3. Short
4. Irregular
Inside a bone
1. Periosteum
2. Blood vessels
3. Compact bone
4. Spongy bone (red marrow)
5. Growth plate
6. nerves
Movement (joints)
1. Ball and socket
2. Hinge
3. Gliding
4. Pivot
Function
1. Movement
2. Support
3. Protection
4. Produce blood cells and store calcium
Procedure: Teacher and/or students will photocopy coloring pages, download pictures of various parts needed as described above to utilize in this project. This is an excellent time to reference
Tech-Know
section. Students who have access to a computer may research the web-sites for pictures and diagrams.
Students arrange the pictures into the five sections, glue on poster paper and color. Students will use magic markers to write facts next to each section.
Poster Child Score Sheet
1.________pts Follows project directions
2.________pts Completes enter poster
3.________pts Examples of all five sections
4.________pts Verbally explain poster to class
25 points per section
Grade:
100-90 A E/E-
89-80 B S+
79-70 C S-
69-60 D N
59-0 F N-
Vocabulary Words for Word Wall
Pelvis | fuse | phalanges | metatarsals
Metacarpals | tendon | inflammation | ball and socket
Hinge joint | gliding joint | pivot joint | saddle joint
Ellipsoid joint | Carpal Tunnel Syndrome