Human Skeletal System Lesson

So happy to be back for our second week of Science Saturday with The Homeschool Scientist.

This week was packed with a trip to the orthopedic doctor for Ariary’s broken collarbone and then she grew suddenly ill with a high fever. The broken collarbone could not have been timed more perfectly since we were studying bones, but the virus made it difficult to teach since she only wanted to cuddle (not that I minded that one bit). Thank goodness I have very talented friends like Maureen at Spell Outloud who has previously worked through Apologia’s Exploring Creation with Anatomy and Physiology. (Thank you, Maureen, for making this week so easy for me.)

What You Need

For Lesson 2 in Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology, we used the following items:

• Skeleton Puzzle Printable
• Human Skeleton Coloring Page
• Hard surface
• Pillow or blanket
• Masking tape
• Pool noodle, pony tail holders, rope (if you plan to do the vertebrae model from Spell Outloud)

Lesson Two, Day One

Lesson Two, Day Two

While Ariary was resting in her crib, I gathered the children around me for a crash-course through the rest of the unit.

We reviewed the names of the bones using the Human Skeleton Coloring Page that I found courtesy of Spell Outloud. As we talked about the names of each bone, the children would find the bone on the picture and on their own bodies.

As they finished coloring the skeleton page, I brought the laptop to the floor for them to watch Dem Bones, a video on YouTube.

The video provided a simple transition into discussing joints since the skeletons dance and I could point out how bones do not bend. Following the instructions in the textbook, I taped each child’s finger to show what it would be like it they did not have joints.

Then, I told the children that their teeth are bones and asked them to gently grind their teeth together. I asked how that felt and explained that cartilage helps keep our bones from rubbing together and softens the impact of movement.

Using a suggestion in the book, I asked the children to hit my lap desk. They responded by saying that it was hard like our bones. So, I asked them to pretend that the blanket was cartilage. Again, they hit the desk but the blanket served as a cushion.

Obviously, the blanket was a little too comfortable.

What did we learn?

A video is embedded.
Please remember to stop by The Homeschool Scientist to see what they are doing for Lesson 2.

How are your studies going?