Skeletal System Overview
X-ray of a human skull.Copyright 2004 Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA. All rights reserved.
Students learn about bone structure, bone development and growth, and bone functions. Later, they apply this understanding to answer the Challenge Question presented in the "Fix the Hip" lesson and use what they have learned to create informative brochures about osteoporosis and biomedical engineering contributions to this field.
Biomedical and mechanical engineers study bones because of their amazing structural material. Many mechanical tests can be performed by engineers such as strength or torque tests. Bone has the ability to adapt to a changing load environment over time, and can also recover from failure. One emerging field of study in biomedical engineering is bone tissue engineering. By applying concepts from both biology and engineering, possible substitutes are being created that perform the same functions of human bones. Later, students demonstrate how engineers would present their findings by creating brochures about osteoporosis. This is an important skill because engineers must be able to relay their findings to audiences of people with different backgrounds so that they understand what is going on. Osteoporosis is a condition that causes bones to become brittle and, thus, weak. Biomedical engineers are working on ways to prevent bone fractures from occurring due to the onset of this condition. In addition, DEXA scans are performed to screen for osteoporosis. Biomedical engineers use the information from the scans (i.e., bone density) to determine where the onset of osteoporosis has occurred.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- List the active tissues in a bone.
- Describe the macroscopic and microscopic structure of a long bone, and list the functions of these parts.
- Distinguish between intramembranous and endochondral bones, and explain how such bones develop and grow.
- Discuss the major functions of bones.
After the associated activities "What Makes our Bones Strong?" and "Osteoporosis Brochure," students should be able to:
- Organize content in order to produce an informative brochure to increase awareness of osteoporosis including treatment, prevention, and new technologies.