Hi there! Today, we’re going to learn something really cool about our bodies. Have you ever wondered why we have so many bones? Let’s find out together!
First, let’s think about why we have bones at all. Imagine a tall building, like a skyscraper. Before it gets its walls and windows, it needs strong beams to hold it up. These beams are like the building’s skeleton. Our bones do the same thing for our bodies. They give us shape and help us stand up straight.
Now, imagine if you didn’t have any bones. You’d be like a floppy noodle! Bones are super important because they keep us from flopping over. They are the strong parts inside us that hold everything together.
Okay, so we know bones are important, but why do we have more than 200 of them? Let’s look at our hands. If you look at an x-ray of a hand, you’ll see lots of bones. Even just one finger has three bones! Why is that?
Think about how you can bend your fingers. If each finger had only one bone, you wouldn’t be able to bend them at all! Each place where you can bend is called a joint. Having more bones means more joints, and more joints mean we can move in lots of different ways.
Our bodies can bend in many places, like our necks, arms, and legs. This is all thanks to having lots of bones. Without them, we couldn’t move around as we do now. So, bones help us stand up and move in all sorts of fun ways!
That’s all for today! Remember, bones are super important because they give our bodies structure and let us move. Keep asking questions and stay curious about the world around you. There are so many mysteries to explore!
See you next time for more fun learning!
Bone Detective: Go on a “bone hunt” around your home or classroom. Look for objects that have a skeleton-like structure, such as a chair or a table. Draw a picture of one of these objects and label the parts that act like bones. Discuss with a friend or family member how these “bones” help the object stand or function.
Joint Experiment: Try moving different parts of your body and notice where you can bend. Count how many joints you can find in your fingers, arms, and legs. Write down or draw a picture of the joints you discover. Think about how your movements would change if you had fewer joints.
Build a Skeleton: Use craft sticks, pipe cleaners, or straws to create a simple skeleton model. Try to include as many joints as you can. Once your skeleton is complete, see if you can make it stand up or move. Share your creation with your class and explain how the joints help it move.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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[PHONE RINGING] Hi, it’s Doug. These are my favorite pajamas. They’re awesome. They’re even realistic; check this out. This is a model of the human hand, and there are the pajamas right there. It’s pretty detailed, isn’t it? Someone named Gideon has a question about skeletons. Let’s give him a call. [PHONE RINGING] Hi, Doug. Hi, Gideon. I have a question for you. Why do our skeletons have so many bones? That’s a great question. We do have a lot of bones. Scientists have counted them and found that there are more than 200 bones in our body. But before we can answer why there are so many, think about this: Why do we even have bones at all? What do they do for your body? What do you think? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
OK, you ready? Well, when thinking about what bones do, it might be helpful to think about a building like a skyscraper. When people make a building, first they start with some kind of steel or wooden beams. They create a structure, something that’s in the shape of the building. And only once they’ve done that do they add the walls, the windows, the roof, and so on. Sometimes, we even call this the skeleton of a building. Your skeleton is no different. The bones are like the steel beams of a building. They give your body its structure.
Now, imagine for a second if you had no bones at all. What would happen? Think about it; you’d just flop over. There’d be nothing to hold you up. So, that’s what bones do for us. They give us a structure. But why so many bones? Why do we have over 200 bones in our body? Take your hand, for example. You can see in this x-ray of a hand that there are a lot of bones. Just in the top part of one finger, there are three bones. What’s the point of that? Use your imagination again. Imagine if your finger had only one bone in it; what would go wrong? You can see there’d be nowhere for your finger to bend. Each of the places on your body where you can bend something is called a joint. So, by having more than one bone in each finger, that allows your finger to bend.
Now, think of all the places on your body that can bend: your neck, your legs, your arms. If you didn’t have so many bones in your body, you wouldn’t be able to move in so many ways. So in summary, without bones, our body would have no structure. You literally couldn’t stand up. And by having so many bones, that allows our bodies to bend in many places. Without that, we wouldn’t be able to move.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Gideon, for asking it. Now, we have something special for this week’s episode. If you have time, my friends and I here at Mystery Science have created a step-by-step activity that combines science with art. You can find a link to the activity at the end of this video.
OK, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and found three questions submitted to me that I’m thinking about answering. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: Why do spiders bite? Do bats really drink blood? Or, how can you tell if a mushroom is poisonous? So, submit your vote when the video’s over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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