How Can We Represent the Function of our Body Systems?
This project's purpose was to have us get a deeper understanding of the body systems. Each group was assigned two systems, ours being the skeletal and muscular system. From this, we researched them and blueprinted models to represent the function of our systems. Having built the model, our class reconvened to share our findings.
An Overview of Our Research Efforts |
Project Description |
Skeletal System
The Skeletal System consists of the bones that exist in your body. They have 5 distinct purposes; they support the body, protect internal organs, provide a platform for movement, store mineral reserves, and provide a site for blood cell formation.
Skeleton Structure
The skeletal system consists of 206 bones, but all have a similar structure. Calcium provides the base for all bones. A section called the Periosteum is comprised of tissues that form the membrane of bones. Bones also house two types of bone marrow. Yellow marrow is made up of fat cells, and red marrow produces red and white blood cells. Harversian canals run through bones, and contain blood vessels and nerves. Cartilage, a soft, flexible tissue, is gradually replaced by bone as the body ages.
Muscular System
The muscular system is composed of all the muscles in your body. The purpose of the muscular system is specific to each of the three kinds of muscles: Cardiac, Smooth, and Skeletal.
Muscle Types
The three types of muscles all have specific purposes and structures. The cardiac muscle is your heart. It acts involuntarily and pumps blood throughout your body. Smooth muscles are found in your organs. They have several functions, including moving food through your digestive tract, controlling blood flow, and adjusting pupil size. They also act involuntarily. The final type of muscle are skeletal muscles. They are consciously controlled, and are used in bodily movement.
Muscle Contraction
Reflection
This project was different than other projects, in that the focus was not on how to learn about the topic of body systems. Rather, it was to learn about all the processes that we had though of to try to get there. What this means is that we could have done a simple wooden model that would have fulfilled the requirements perfectly. However, we decided that we could do more. With our schools new "Makerspace", we had newfound access to a 3-D printer. With this, we decided to print an entire hand, with which we could create our model. This lead to some pros and cons.
First of all, none of us had experience with the printers. This meant that there were new ideas for the entire group to explore. This lead to the first strength of the group: Being able to divide work in an effective manner. This was also related to our second strength of time management. Because we had to wait for the printer, we had to plan our prints carefully in order to not run out of time.
There were, some issues with our group. We had, out of necessity, very easy access to computers. This, however, lead to some members being off task. This leads to the eternal problem about not getting distracted. Also closely related to this is the problem of double checking all of our work. We needed to make doubly sure of everything, something we didn't always do.
First of all, none of us had experience with the printers. This meant that there were new ideas for the entire group to explore. This lead to the first strength of the group: Being able to divide work in an effective manner. This was also related to our second strength of time management. Because we had to wait for the printer, we had to plan our prints carefully in order to not run out of time.
There were, some issues with our group. We had, out of necessity, very easy access to computers. This, however, lead to some members being off task. This leads to the eternal problem about not getting distracted. Also closely related to this is the problem of double checking all of our work. We needed to make doubly sure of everything, something we didn't always do.