Wendy Wong
April 8, 2007
Chemistry 511—The Physical Basis of Chemistry
Carol & Tony
Final Project—The Story of Chemistry
Class: 5th grade, Cherry Hill, NJ
Unit: Science—The Skeletal System
Lesson: A Closer Look at a Bone
Time: 55-80 minutes
Objectives:
The students will be able to differentiate and analyze the structure of a human bone.
The students will be able to explain how bones supports and protects the body.
Standards:
CH 5.5 (Characteristics of Life) All students will gain an understanding of the
structure, characteristics, and basic needs of organisms and will investigate the diversity
of life.
NJ Science Standard 1 All students will learn to identify systems of interacting
components and understand how their interactions combine to produce the overall
behavior of the system.
NJ Science Standard 2 All students will develop problem-solving, decision-making,
and inquiry skills, reflected by formulating usable questions and hypotheses, planning
experiments, conducting systematic observations, interpreting and analyzing data,
drawing conclusions, and communicating results.
Prior Knowledge:
Review the functions of the skeletal system.
• protection
• support
• movement
Anticipatory Set:
Activity: Bones In Shape
(20-30 minutes)
Teacher: What shape is strong-a cylinder or rectangular prism?
Take guesses; make a tally on the board (Math Connection—may make graphs with data)
Teacher: Let’s test it to see!
Students use index cards to make the 2 different hollow prisms with a learning
partner. See “Bones In Shape” student activity sheet.
Each team needs the activity lab sheet. Assign roles for each scientist and allow
students to work in independent groups.
Students will find that the cylinder holds more weight and is stronger than the
rectangular prism.
Teacher: What shape are our bones more like? We do we think about that?
Anticipate-round, cylindrical
Chart responses on chart paper to be displayed in the classroom for future reference.
Teacher clearly state learning objective:
Bones are round and cylindrical structures that provide great support.
Social Studies Connection
Much architecture is designed with round columns to provide maximum
support. For example, Greek architecture is known for their Greek columns.
Discussion: What Are Bones Made of?
(5-10 minutes)
Teacher: How do bones feel?
Anticipate-hard
Chart responses on chart paper to be displayed in the classroom for future reference.
Teacher: What makes them hard?
Anticipate-students may not be able to respond, guide them to new learning by
questioning:
What builds strong bones? What is it that moms and dads tell us to drink or
eat so we grow strong bones?
Anticipate-milk, cheese, dairy foods—high in calcium, vitamins, etc.
Chart responses on chart paper to be displayed in the classroom for future reference.
Teacher clearly state learning objective:
Bones are made mostly of two minerals: calcium and phosphate. Calcium
makes your bones and teeth hard and strong. Not only is the shape of our
bones important, but what they are made of is important as well.
Lab Activity: What are the parts of the bone?
(30-40 minutes)
Teacher: Today we are going to get a closer look at the parts of a bone. Different parts
of the bone serve different functions, and bones are not hard throughout. You
will work with another scientist today. With your learning partner, you will
follow the scientific process to determine the roles each part of the bone plays.
The bones you will be looking at are cross-sections of cow bones.
Assign lab partners and roles. Students need their own lab sheet to turn in as an
individual grade.
Students conduct lab according to lab sheet and hypothesize what each layer of the
bone is.
New Information:
• composition of bone:
o periosteum—the membrane covering a bone, the outermost layer
o compact bone—the hard, outer part of a bone consisting of densely packed
cells, making the layer hard
o spongy bone—less dense and lighter than compact bone, absorbs shock
for a bone
o calcium—mineral that bones are made of
• storage:
o bone marrow—center of a bone, where red blood cells are produced
o minerals—what bones store, especially calcium and phosphorus
Materials:
-class set of “Bones in Shape” and “Inside a Bone” lab
-cross section of cow bones
-safety equipment: goggles, gloves
-cleaning materials: paper towels, antibacterial cleaner
-4 x 6 inch index cards
-tape
-textbooks, novels
Assessments:
-Teacher observations while students are working together
-“Inside of a Bone” Lab sheet
Background Information: Story Chemistry
Connection to Chemistry
Though this lesson is studying biology, the learning of the inside of a bone has a
strong chemistry component. Chemistry the study of matter including its composition and
properties, and the study of various strands of biology deals with chemistry. Chemistry is
involved in cell biology, microbiology, anatomy, physiology, and genetics. Through
observation students will be able to see how a chemical affects bone composition therefore
their bodies.
Bone is a composite, or a mixture of two or more solids. It is both flexible and
tough, and the strong but delicate component of the bone is an ionic compound known as
calcium hydroxyapatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2. The flexible portion of bone consists of fibers
named collagen, a protein (Castellion & McMurry, 1999).
The element calcium is the fifth most abundant metal on earth, and is essential to
human and animal life. Though before 1808, chemists only found it in compounds such as
the calcium phosphate, a component of bone. Calcium was first collected and separated
from its compounds in 1808 by Humphrey Davy electrolytically (Atkins, 1995). Through
electrolysis, the breaking down of matter using electric currents to pass through the
compound, Davy illustrated that Lavoisier’s alkaline earth were also compounds. The
French chemist, Lavoisier, is known as the “founding father of modern chemistry”, for the
modernized chemistry in 1789 when he published Traité él émentaire de chimie. There
was controversy on whether his work was of French or German origin, but without doubt,
he “restructured chemistry from fundamental principles” (Brock, 1992).
Next to calcium, phosphorus, is the most plentiful mineral in a human body. The
hard, strong part of bones and teeth are due to this important metal. Because bones are
living organisms, they are breakable, but modern science have solved many problems of
weak and broken bones. As found in a study conducted by Australian researchers, calcium
supplements are known to strengthen bone health and reduce bone injuries in women
(2006). For bone repair, calcium phosphate, a compound containing calcium and
phosphate ions, can be injected into bones (Weitao, Kangmei, Anmin 2007).
Although the study of the inside of bone is biology, much chemistry can be
incorporated to enrich this lesson.
Works Cited
(June 2006). Calcium boosts bones. Nutrition Action Health Letter 33(5). Retrieved
March 20, 2007 from Academic Search Premier.
Anmin, J., Kangmei, K., and Weitao, T. (January-March 2007). An injectable cement:
Synthesis, physical properties and scaffold for bone repair. Journal of
Postgraduate Medicine 53(1). Retrieved March 20, 2007 from Academic Search
Premier.
Atkins, P.W. (1995). The Periodic Kingdom. New York: Basic Books, A Division of
HarperColliins Publishers, Inc.
Badders, Wlliam et al. (1999). Discovery Works: Movement and Control. Silver Burdett
Ginn Inc.
Brock, William H. (1992). The Norton History of Chemistry. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company.
Castellion, Mary E. and McMurry, John (1999). Fundamentals of general, Organic, and
Biological Chemistry. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Student Name ________________________
Bones In Shape Activity
Question: Which shape is stronger—a cylinder or rectangular prism?
Hypothesis:
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Materials:
1. 2—4 x 6 inch index cards
2. tape
3. textbooks, novels
Procedures:
1. Roll one of the index cards into the shape of a long cylinder so that it has a diameter of 2
inches. Overlap the edges and tape down so the index card stays its shape as a cylinder.
2. Fold the other index card half way up so that the 6-inch edges are almost touching.
Leave ½ inch of space (this will be the overlapping flap of your rectangular prism).
3. Unfold the same index card. Fold the bottom, smaller half, halfway up to the crease
made by the first fold. Fold again by rolling the index card upward towards the flap.
Fold again.
4. When you unfold the card, you should have 4 creases. Fold it into a shape of a
rectangular prism with the ½ inch flap overlapping one of the faces.
5. Tape the flap down.
6. Place both prisms upright, one hollow side up and the other touching the desk like the
diagram below.
7. Carefully place one book at a time on the rectangular prism. Place one book after another
on top the first until the structure is disfigured or bent.
8. Do the same to the cylinder.
Observations:
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Conclusions:
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Student Name _____________________
A Closer Look at Bones Lab Activity
LAB: Inside of a Bone
Procedure:
Step 1. Observe the outside covering and features of the bone
Step 2. Describe the outside of the bone
Step 3. Observe the inside of the bone. Notice how the inside structure differs from the
outside structure
Step 4. Describe the inside of the bone
Step 5. Make 2 sketches of the bone. The first sketch should be what the bone looks like
from the outside. The second sketch should include a view of the inside of the
bone.
Step 6. Discuss with your lab partner(s) about what you can infer about the materials that
make up the bone
Step 2. Describe the outside of the bone. What do you see? What do you feel?
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Step 4. Describe the inside of the bone. What do you see? What do you feel?
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Step 5. Make a sketch of the outside of the bone.
Step 6. What can you infer about the materials that make up the bones?
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Analyze & Conclude:
a. Use the Venn Diagram to compare the inside to the outside structure of the bone.
Inside
Outside
b. Do you think that bones are living material? What evidence do you have to support your
conclusion?
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c. What processes of science did you use in this lab activity? How did you use them?
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