Homeschool Unit Study: Bones

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Did you know that babies are born with 300 bones? As kids grow up to adults, some of the bones fuse, and you end up with 206 bones. Bones vary in size, from the giant femur bone in your thigh to the tiny stapes bone inside your ear. Kids have growth plates on the end of bones that grow as the child grows and become part of the rigid bone. Bones come in many shapes. There are long bones in your arms and legs, short bones in your wrists and ankles, flat bones in your head and chest, and irregular bones in your spine.

Bones do more than just hold you together. Your ribs create a kind of armor that protects your organs like your heart and lungs. Inside of your bones is marrow that produces the cells that circulate in your blood. Your bones store vitamins and minerals like calcium and magnesium. They even remove toxins like heavy metals, store them, and release them slowly, at a rate your body can handle.

Bones can remodel themselves to be stronger. The more you use them, the stronger they become, and they tend to soften as we age. When bones break, they are special cells that break down the rough edges and other cells that lay down new, smooth bone to fix the break. X-rays are able to use safe, low levels of radiation to take pictures of the bones.

Studying bones is just one of the many interesting topics about the human body. Check out our other unit studies on this fascinating topic.