Skeletal Anatomy

Today I learned that a lifesize human skeleton replica will cost you around 200 bucks (or, save a few bones with the 33 inch version by Anatomy Warehouse). Bones are expensive! Those grave robbers knew what they were doing.

While we're alive, bones and muscles work together. The bones support the muscles, and the muscles make the bones move. Without bones, we would just be a blob, stuck in one place. Even snakes have skeletons that let them bite & slither on the ground. Luckily, we have a lot of bones to help us do fun things & run from scary things. There are 206 bones in the adult human body, but we're born with more --270 -- so we can squeeze out of our mom's uterus. As we grow up, some bones fuse together to give us a stronger skeleton. 

Some important bones include the pelvis (hip bone), knee bones (patella & leg bones), skull and humorous. Your skull is especially important, because it protects your brain! Your spinal column supports the bones on the upper half of your body, as well as your pelvis (ribs, shoulder bones and skull); if it is injured or you don't eat enough calcium, your neck and shoulders may develop a permanent slouch.

Now sit up straight…