CHAPTER 7:
SKELETAL SYSTEM
7.1 Introduction
Learning Outcome 1: List the active tissues in a bone.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Introduce the fact that bones are multifunctional.
b. Discuss why bones are defined as organs.
c. Discuss various active tissues found in bones.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Ask students to examine a variety of human bones.
Answer: Students should note the similarities and differences in structure, and then discuss the unique
relationship between structure and function.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Compare and contrast various microscopic structures of bones.
Answer: Supply students with a variety of prepared microscope slides. Assist them in the
identification of spongy bone, compact bone, osteocytes, etc. Reiterate the fact that bones are active,
living organs.
7.2 Bone Structure
Learning Outcome 2: Describe the general structure of a bone, and list the functions of its
parts.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Introduce the skeletal system and its interactions with other body systems.
b. Discuss the general structure of bones.
c. Describe the macroscopic parts of a long bone.
d. Lecture on the microscopic structure of a bone.
e. Differentiate between spongy and compact bone.
f. Introduce various terms used to describe skeletal structures.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Provide students with a variety of bones and ask them to identify at least twelve different bone
markings.
Answer: Students should be able to identify a condyle, crest, epicondyle, facet, fontanel, foramen,
fossa, fovea, head, meatus, process, sinus, spine, suture, trochanter, tubercle, and tuberosity.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Ask students to prepare a short report on a disease of the skeletal system.
Answer: Suggestions for topics include osteoporosis, osteopenia, rickets, osteomalacia, osteomyelitis,
tuberculosis, osteoma, osteogenic sarcoma, osteitis fibrosa cystica, osteoarthritis, and Paget’s disease.
7.3 Bone Development and Growth
Learning Outcome 3: Distinguish between intramembranous and endochondral bones, and
explain how such bones develop and grow.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Give an overview of bone development and growth.
b. Distinguish between intramembranous bones and endochondral bones.
c. Describe an osteocyte and the epiphyseal disk.
d. Discuss the role of bone tissue in maintaining homeostasis.
e. Lecture on the repair of a bone fracture.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Ask students to create a chart that illustrates the major steps in the development of an endochondral
bone.
Answer: Students may use the figure provided in the chapter as a guide.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. A child sustained serious injuries in a recent automobile accident. Injury to the epiphyses of
various bones was discovered. Discuss why these injuries are of special concern.
Answer: If an epiphyseal disk is damaged before it ossifies, elongation of the long bone may cease
prematurely, or growth may be uneven.
7.4 Bone Function
Learning Outcome 4: Discuss the major functions of bones.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Give examples of how bones shape, support, and protect body structures.
b. Discuss the concepts of support and protection, body movement, blood cell formation, and storage
of inorganic salts.
c. Distinguish between the functions of red marrow and yellow marrow.
d. Introduce causes and effects of osteoporosis.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Ask students to develop a chart that compares various types of bone fractures. Ask them to give an
example of each type.
Answer: Responses should include a discussion of simple, compound, comminuted, compression,
depressed, impacted, spiral, and greenstick fractures.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Discuss why some people say they would rather break a bone than damage a ligament or tendon.
Answer: Tendons and ligaments do not have an efficient blood supply of their own, resulting in a
healing process that is relatively slow. Bones are a special type of vascularized connective tissue.
This direct blood supply would increase the probability of healing relatively quickly.
7.5 Skeletal Organization
Learning Outcome 5: Distinguish between the axial and appendicular skeletons, and name
the
major parts of each.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Give an overview of the body’s skeletal organization.
b. Describe the location of each of the bones of the axial skeleton.
c. Describe the location of each of the bones in the appendicular skeleton.
d. Review the terms used to describe skeletal structures.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Provide students with an unlabeled chart of the human skeleton and ask them to label the major
bones of the axial and appendicular skeleton.
Answer: Students should be able to label, at a minimum, the following bones: frontal, temporal,
parietal, occipital, cranium, skull, mandible, clavicle, scapula, sternum, hyoid, humerus, ribs,
vertebrae, ilium, ischium, pubis, ulna, sacrum, coccyx, radius, ulna, carpals, metacarpals, phalanges,
femur, patella, tibia, fibula, tarsals, and metatarsals.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Organize the students into groups of four. Ask them to examine each other by identifying a variety
of skeletal landmarks.
Answer: Students should be able to locate the bones listed earlier in this chapter objective, as well as
the mastoid process, olecranon process, iliac crest, lateral malleolus, medial malleolus, calcaneous,
glenoid cavity, acetabulum, and the heads of the metacarpals.
7.6 – 7.12 Skull – Lower Limb
Learning Outcome 6: Locate and identify the bones and the major features of the bones that
compose
the skull, vertebral column, thoracic cage, pectoral girdle, upper limb, pelvic girdle, and
lower limb.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Use an articulated skeleton to describe the name and location of the major bones.
b. Distribute bone samples to the class to reiterate the terms used to describe bones, as well as to aid
students in the naming of the bones themselves.
c. Compare the bones of the adult skeleton with that of a fetus.
d. Compare the differences between the female and male skeletons.
e. Give a brief overview of the functions of each of the 206 bones that comprise the skeletal system.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Provide students with models or illustrations of the human male and female skeletons, and ask them
to identify as many differences as possible.
Answer: Students should comment on differences of the skull, pelvic girdle, pelvic cavity, sacrum,
and coccyx.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Discuss the distinguishing characteristics of four types of vertebrae.
Answer: Comments may include the following observations: the transverse foramen and bifurcated
spiny processes make cervical vertebrae unique, the thoracic vertebrae exhibit costal facets, and the
lumbar vertebrae are the largest vertebrae. The sacrum is actually the result of the fusion of five
vertebrae.
7.13 Joints
Learning Outcome 7: Classify joints according to the type of tissue binding the bones
together, describe their characteristics, and name an example of each.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Give an overview of the major types of joints found in the body.
b. Give examples of the location and function of various fibrous and cartilaginous joints.
c. Distinguish between fibrous and cartilaginous joints in terms of possible movements.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Ask students to demonstrate the movements of at least five different joints. The demonstration
should include the name of the type of joint, a description of the joint, and a summary of its possible
movements.
Answer: Demonstrations may include information regarding cartilaginous joints, ball-and-socket
joints, condyloid joints, gliding joints, hinge joints, pivot joints, and saddle joints.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Ask students to prepare a short report by comparing different forms of arthritis.
Answer: The reports may compare infectious/bacterial arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis,
osteoarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Ask students to include a description of the
disease, signs and symptoms, causes, risk factors, diagnostic procedures, and possible treatment
modalities.
Learning Outcome 8: List six types of synovial joints, and describe the actions of each.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Reiterate the structure and function of synovial joints.
b. Introduce the terms menisci and bursae.
c. Describe a ball-and-socket joint, condyloid joint, gliding joint, hinge joint, pivot joint, and saddle
joint.
d. Distinguish among the six types of synovial joints based on possible movements.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Provide students with unlabeled diagrams of a knee joint, hip, shoulder joint, and elbow. Ask them
to correctly label each diagram as completely as possible.
Answer: The labeled diagrams should include the names of all bones, bone markings, cartilage,
membranes, bursae, capsules, etc.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. One form of chronic arthritis is known as synovioarthritis. Discuss why this name is appropriate.
Answer: The synovial membrane of many joints is affected by swelling, formation of pulpy masses,
and eventual destruction of the articular cartilage. The joint surfaces may fuse causing stiffness and
immobility.
Learning Outcome 9: Explain how skeletal muscles produce movements at joints, and
identify
several types of joint movements.
1. Lecture Suggestions and Guidelines
a. Describe what is meant by the terms origin and insertion.
b. Give an example of flexion, extension, dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, hyperextension, abduction,
adduction, rotation, circumduction, pronation, supination, eversion, inversion, retraction,
protraction, elevation, and depression. Demonstrate each movement to the class.
c. Introduce the term arthroscopy.
2. Application Question(s)
a. Ask students to demonstrate to a classmate each of the seventeen types of joint movements
discussed in this chapter objective.
Answer: Demonstrations should include flexion, extension, dorsiflexion, plantar flexion,
hyperextension, abduction, adduction, rotation, circumduction, pronation, supination, eversion,
inversion, retraction, protraction, elevation, and depression.
3. Critical Thinking Issue(s)
a. Discuss the advantages of arthroscopic knee surgery over conventional surgical procedures in the
past.
Answer: Discussions will vary, but should include emphasis on reduced recovery time, less invasive,
performed on an outpatient basis, nearly invisible scarring, etc.
Related Films
Bones, Cartilage, and Joints. 28 min. Films for the Humanities and Sciences.
Cerebral Palsy: What Every Parent Should Know. 19 min. Films for the Humanities and Sciences.
Fractures, an Introduction. 26 min. American Medical Association.
How the Body Moves: The Skeleton. 20 min. Time-Life Multimedia.
Human Body: Skeletal System. 12 min. Coronet Film and Video.
Physical Exam of the Hips, Shoulder, and Back. 30 min. University of Minnesota Audiovisual Library
Service.
Skeleton and Muscles. 18 min. TV Video Publishing.
The Skeleton. 13 min. Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp.
The Spinal Column. 11 min. Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp.
Suggestions for Additional Reading
Farley, Dixie. April 1996. New ways to heal broken bones. FDA Consumer. Bones are remodeled
throughout life.
Mundy, Gregory R. November 1995. No bones about fluoride. Nature Medicine. We have several
treatments for osteoporosis.
Rauner, M., Sipos, W., and Pietschmann, P. 2007. Osteoimmunology. International Archives of Allergy
and Immunology, 143(1), 31-48. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Thomas, P. and D. Howarth. January 18, 1996. Paget's disease of bone. The New England Journal of
Medicine, vol. 334. Striking images of this bone condition.