Unit 6 Reflection

This unit was about the skeletal system: the structures of bones, disorders of the skeletal system, bone remodeling, bone fractures and how they are repaired, the bones in the body, and joints. Straight off the bat, it was very interesting to see that bones are composed differently which is why they are separated into types. I also did not know that bones are constantly breaking down (osteoclasts) and reforming (osteoblasts). We learnt how the skeleton is separated up and what the bones do, and how they completely affect our daily lives, from running to even just sitting up right. The disorders of the skeletal system were interesting to learn about - my closest friend has had scoliosis since she was 10 years old, but swimming has helped with it. The video we watched in class about correct posture and how it affects us made me really think about how often I slouch and the weight my neck has to bear from constantly looking down at my phone. Breaking bones is not necessarily common, but a lot of people I know have broken at least one bone in their body. Seeing how the bone will repair itself, and then be as good as new, was fascinating. I never really noticed how important joints are in the body but they have a direct impact on bodily movement, so are very necessary. I would like to learn more about the necessity of joints for bones. The owl pellet lab helped me understand the skeleton a lot better, and how similar an animal skeleton is to a human skeleton. Our owl pellet skeleton was very incomplete, but it goes to show how few bones are necessary to identify what organism it was. I found this unit to be very interesting, I previously knew very little about bones. Now I see an x-ray and am interested in figuring out which bone is which. My New Year's goals are going well, I am constantly growing in class and becoming more comfortable around my classmates. I am getting ahead in my horse riding and am setting up with a horse that will help me accomplish my goals. I have been sleeping quite regular hours, but I could definitely sleep more. I'm also excited to see where my 20 times goes, I really like my topic and I am excited to see where I can take it. 

Owl Pellet Lab

In the owl pellet lab, we were given an owl pellet (indigestible remains owls regurgitate), and broke it apart in an attempt to find out what the owl had eaten. We used forceps and a probe to pull apart the compact mass and found a lot of fur, and a broken up skeleton. We separated the bones into groups based on similarity, and then tried to find out what it was.

Our owl pellet skeleton was quite incomplete, there was no complete skull, which made it difficult to distinguish what it was. However, we decided that the organism was a vole -- based solely on the shape of the scapula, and the radius and ulna. The diagram of the scapula for a vole was the only one that matched up with the physical scapula bone of our organism. The radius and ulna did not match at the ends of the bones for the other small rodents, and the diagram for the radius and ulna matched the organism's bone the most closely. Despite the incomplete skeleton, we strongly concluded that it was a vole.

 The scapula and ulna and radius looked very similar to human bones -- not at all in size, but the shape of them could almost have been the same, just shrunken. In the scapula, there was a center ridge that humans do not have, but it was easy to tell that it was the same bone, just in a vole. The spine was all separated into different sections, but we also distinguished very quickly that it was the spine. It looked just like a human skeleton, of course again on a much smaller scale. A human radius and ulna and a vole radius and ulna look incredibly similar, again just minimized. 

Vole and shrew
leg bone comparison charts

Spine

Close up of scapula compared to diagram

Vole and shrew comparison chart
(skull, scapula, pelvis)

Close up of ulna and radius compared to diagram