Playing is Learning

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An Edutainment Adventure Based on Three Rounds of Investigations

To me, the most fearsome picture is the skull and the crossed bones. I understand that this is the universal sign for danger. Now, when you add the bony skeleton to that, you make me freak out completely. Save for writing this short post, I have no interest knowing anything about my bones at all. I only love my skeleton to stay in one place, and that is under my skin!

 

Have you ever wondered what the functions of the human skeleton are? If you have, then here you go. The human skeleton is a complex structure of bones that helps to protect the delicate and most vital organs in the human body such as the lungs, heart and brain. The bones are also used for the production of red blood cells. In addition, the human skeleton is what makes movement in humans possible. The human skeleton is made up of a mixture of different bones. 

 

What image comes to mind when you think of bones? There are all of 206 bones! We have short, long, flat and even irregular bones. Each type of bone has a specific job in the human body. The human skeleton is made of different parts including the skull, the sternum, the ribs and the backbone. 

 

Like me, do you associate the skull with pirates? Why did they love the skull and crossed bones so much? I first noted that when I read Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson), yeah, damn those days when I pitied Jim Hawkins too much I couldn’t help cry for him. 

 

The skull is made of different bones that interlock into each other. The main task of the bones in your skull is to protect your brain from physical injury and this explains why it is very hard. When a baby is born, the bones in the skull are soft and pliable but they harden as the baby grows older. The skull also contains facial bones that give our cheeks, jaw and nose their structure and shape. 

 

 

The sternum is part of the ribcage. It is flat and dagger-shaped. The sternum protects soft vital organs in your body like the heart and lungs from injury. 

 

The ribcage is made of 24 thin bones. They are curved slightly in order to connect to the spine in your back and the sternum in your chest. These bones also protect your vital internal organs, which are soft and delicate, from injury. 

 

This is what is commonly known as the backbone or spine. The spine is made of a number of irregular bones. The chief function of the spine is to support your body structure and your head.