Hands Together: Exploring the Human Skeletal System
Purpose
To study the skeletal system of the human body.
To understand the purpose of bones and joints using the example of the hand.
Background
Hands are important because they are the chief way we physically manipulate our
environment. The main defining feature of our hands is the opposable thumb, which
allows us to hold tools like pens, knives etc.
The hand has 27 bones. The wrist (carpus) accounts for 8, the palm (metacarpals)
contains 5 and the remaining 14 are the digital bones (fingers and thumb).
A joint is where two bones meet. They allow movement and provide mechanical
support for our body. There are many types of joints: hinge (fingers), ball & socket
(shoulder), pivot (head).
Materials
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Construction paper
Tape or glue
(white) straws
Pencil
Scissors
Optional
Borrowed from the LTS office:
• Poster on the skeletal system (see picture above) & model skeleton
Procedure
1. Ask students to describe bones in the human body. What is the purpose of bones
in our body?
2. Use the poster and model of a skeleton to show students how many bones we
have in our bodies and what is inside the bones.
3. As students what do we call it when two bones meet?
4. Talk about joints and movement, demonstrating with your body and asking
students to copy your movements with their own bodies.
5. Explain to students about the human hand, the many bones and joints and why
we need them for our fine motor abilities. Explain that they will be creating a
model of their hand with straws to represent the many bones.
6. Draw a model of the hand on the board, pointing out the different set of bones.
Depending on the age you can use terms like carpal bones, metacarpal bones
and phalanges.
7. Break students into pairs or small groups, giving out glue/tape and scissors, and
straws to each group to share.
8. Hand out construction paper and ask students to trace their hand (if they are
small they can draw it bigger to have room for the straws).
9. Get students to cut and tape/glue straws on their hand to represent the bones.
Extension
Students can do the same activity for the feet. Show the similarities and differences for
the feet compared to the hands.