Thumb Lab Homework

1. Thumb Lab Homework • Bind your opposable thumb to your hand using a cloth to tie it to your hand, or you can just tape it. • Try the following activities at home: • Use the remote control • Open a door by turning a knob • Drink from a cup • Tie your shoe • Write using a pen or pencil • For each activity, write a few sentences describing your observations and experience • Humans are one of the few animals that have this opposable thumb. Explain if this is a benefit or a disadvantage.

2. The Skeletal System

4. Functions • It protects our vital organs such as the brain, heart, and lungs • It gives us the shape that we have, without it we would be a blob of blood and tissue on the floor • It provides us with movement. Because our muscles are attached to bones, when muscles moves, they move bones, and we move • It is responsible for the production of blood cells • It stores the minerals calcium and phosphorus

5. Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road? It didn’t have any guts .

6. You have 206 bones in your body as adult • As a baby, you mostly are made up of cartilage, a soft and flexible tissue, but as you grow the cartilage is replaced by bone • Also, a baby’s skeleton still has bone that is not completely fused together, so they have 275 bones • The tips of the nose, outer ear, and parts of the ribs remain cartilage our entire lives, which is a flexible tissue (softer than bone, tough bendable tissue) • Cartilage also cushions our joints.

7. JOINTS • Places in the body where two or more bones meet or join

8. Ball and Socket Joint allows for the greatest range of motion (found in the hip and shoulder)

9. The hinge Joint provides movement backwards and forwards (elbow and knee)

10. Saddle Joint

12. Joints • Movable- move freely, like the hinge joint, ball and socket and gliding joints • Fixed or Immovable-these joints are not movable; the joints in your skull are immovable

13. Some joints are semi-movable • These joints allow limited movement, like the joints in the vertebrae

14. Osteoblasts • Bone may seem lifeless, but it is actually alive with blood vessels • It is made of connective tissue and minerals • Osteoblasts are bone forming cells

15. Cartilage

16. Compact Bone • The part of bone that does not have any visible openings is called compact bone • It is rigid and dense

17. Bone Marrow • The center of the bone is made of a spongy material called marrow • Blood stem cells are blood cells at their earliest stage of development; the blood cells form in the red marrow • When stem cells mature into blood cells, they are released into the blood stream • Yellow marrow stores fat

18. So deep in the bones, in the marrow, blood cells are formed. You will learn in the heart unit coming up, that red blood cells only live 120 days, after which they must be replaced

20. Mature Stem Cells and Cancer • The mature stem cells associated with those that form blood cells in the bone marrow are the most common type used to treat human diseases today • Bone marrow stem cells have been used to treat cancer patients with leukemia and lymphoma • Chemotherapy kills most of the patient’s leukemia cells, as well as some of their bone marrow stem cells • If stem cells in bone marrow are removed before the chemotherapy, and then re-injected after treatment, the stem cells in the marrow are able to produce large amounts of red blood and white blood cells, to keep the body healthy and to help fight off infections

22. Ligaments attach bone to bone, while tendons attach muscle to bone

23. People who are double-jointed don’t have two joints as the name implies…they just are able to naturally stretch more than others

24. This could be because… • They have extra stretchy ligaments • Or they may have more shallow sockets where the bone fits in a joint (Shallow sockets allow a greater range of motion than a deep one) • Or the ends of the bone are smoother than normal

25. Sprain- an injury which occurs to ligaments caused by them being over stretched beyond their normal capacity, and possible torn

26. Fracture- a break in the bone; fractures vary in their severity

27. Dislocation- a bone is forced out of its joint-ouch!

28. Arthritis • Disease in which the joints become inflamed, or damaged due to wear and tear, causes pain, redness, swelling, and possibly loss of function • Two types: Osteoarthritis (most common type)- caused by wear and tear of the joints over time, common in older adults • Rheumatoid arthritis- caused by inflammation of the joints

29. In this knee, arthritis will cause joint problems because of the loss of cartilage shown. This results in inflammation, swelling and pain,

30. Can Cracking Knuckles Lead to Arthritis? • Possibly osteoarthritis, because it can lead to wear and tear of the joints, but not very likely • The knuckles are the joints in the fingers and toes. They are bathed in a liquid called synovial fluid which lubricates the joints. Some times bubbles of gas form in this fluid and when the joint is manipulated in a certain way, it can cause the bubbles to burst, resulting in a popping sound.

31. Osteoporosis • Osteoporosis is a bone disease best described as “porous or brittle bones” • Bones are living tissue that are constantly being built • Bone cells are called osteocytes • With this disease, the rate of bone loss is greater than the rate of bone building, resulting in thin, brittle bones that can fracture easily

32. Osteoporosis Facts • More than 28 million Americans have osteoporosis or are at risk of developing it • From birth to adolescence new bone is built faster than old bone is removed • During adolescence bone grows even faster and stronger • Bone mass peaks between the ages of 20-30, after that bone loss can outpace bone formation • After menopause in women, bone loss speeds up because of the loss of the hormone, estrogen, that helps to protect bones

33. Notice the “porous” bone on the right

34. How can you help prevent osteoporosis and keep bones healthy? • Eating a well-balanced diet rich in calcium • Regularly doing weight- bearing activities (anaerobic exercises) • Avoiding excess alcohol • Avoid tobacco smoke Building healthy bones at any age can help prevent osteoporosis later in life!

35. BONE Building Minerals Calcium rich foods Phosphorus rich foods Dairy foods-Milk, cheese, yogurt Soy Milk Dark leafy vegetables, like spinach and kale Almonds Orange juice and other products that have calcium added to them Dairy foods-Milk, yogurt, cheese Meat and Fish Almonds Eggs Peanuts Lentils Bread Wheat bran

36. Scoliosis • Scoliosis is an unhealthy curvature of a normally straight spine • A rotation of the vertebrae and rib cage usually accompanies this unhealthy curve • If untreated it can lead to disfigurement, respiratory problems, digestive problems, and pain • It may be caused by an injury or trauma, or poor neurological or muscular control of the spine, but for most cases the cause is unknown

37. Scoliosis • Scoliosis is sometimes caused be injuries or trauma, but the cause for most cases is unknown • Treatment can include wearing a brace, but some cases might require surgical correction of curve • But many cases are mild and will never require treatment • Scoliosis is more common among girls, can be genetic, and is usually diagnosed during adolescence

39. I hope you are ready for your test on Friday! Study your notes on the skeletal system, and get to know all those bones in your lovely body…and yes, spelling will count 