Skeletal System Lab
Overview of the Skeletal System
Laszlo Vass, Ed.D. Version 42-0018-00-01
Lab RepoRt assistant
This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor.
Purpose
What is the purpose of this exercise?
Are there any safety concerns associated with this exercise? If so, list what they are and what precautions should be taken. Exercise 1: The Chemical Components of Bone Questions A. Describe the effect that the lemon juice (acid) had on the chicken leg bone. When you soak the chicken bone in the lemon juice, it pulls out the calcium from the bone which makes the bone very weak. Because of this, you can actually bend and twist the bone. The bone marrow just squeezes out, and the bone is like rubber.
B. Describe the effect that baking (heat) had on the chicken leg bone.
When you bake the bone, the heat forces the collagen out which makes the bone break very easy. When the collagen is still present it helps the bone bounce back to its normal shape. The bone snapped very easily when it was baked for 40 minutes.
C. Rickets is a disease where the bones are not formed completely in children due to a lack of
Vitamin D. Does the heated or acid-soaked bone represent a child with rickets? Explain why.
The bone that is soaked in lemon juice does represent a child with rickets because the children have bones that bend, because the calcium is broken down. The children with rickets do not have a normal amount of calcium in their bones which does not make them as strong.
Exercise 2: Microscopic Structure of Bone Observations Observe the structure of the Haversian system. Sketch what is seen and
Laszlo Vass, Ed.D. Version 42-0018-00-01
Lab RepoRt assistant
This document is not meant to be a substitute for a formal laboratory report. The Lab Report Assistant is simply a summary of the experiment’s questions, diagrams if needed, and data tables that should be addressed in a formal lab report. The intent is to facilitate students’ writing of lab reports by providing this information in an editable file which can be sent to an instructor.
Purpose
What is the purpose of this exercise?
Are there any safety concerns associated with this exercise? If so, list what they are and what precautions should be taken. Exercise 1: The Chemical Components of Bone Questions A. Describe the effect that the lemon juice (acid) had on the chicken leg bone. When you soak the chicken bone in the lemon juice, it pulls out the calcium from the bone which makes the bone very weak. Because of this, you can actually bend and twist the bone. The bone marrow just squeezes out, and the bone is like rubber.
B. Describe the effect that baking (heat) had on the chicken leg bone.
When you bake the bone, the heat forces the collagen out which makes the bone break very easy. When the collagen is still present it helps the bone bounce back to its normal shape. The bone snapped very easily when it was baked for 40 minutes.
C. Rickets is a disease where the bones are not formed completely in children due to a lack of
Vitamin D. Does the heated or acid-soaked bone represent a child with rickets? Explain why.
The bone that is soaked in lemon juice does represent a child with rickets because the children have bones that bend, because the calcium is broken down. The children with rickets do not have a normal amount of calcium in their bones which does not make them as strong.
Exercise 2: Microscopic Structure of Bone Observations Observe the structure of the Haversian system. Sketch what is seen and