Homeschool Unit Study Human Body. Hands-on Activity 3. Rigid versus Flexible Bone Activity.

Today, in our homeschool unit study on the human body, I have another hands-on activity to learn about the makeup of human bones. Also I have this Human Body Crafts page for more fun ideas.

Human Body Unit Study. Rigid versus Flexible Bones Hands-on Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Table of Contents

Homeschool Unit Study Human Body

By the way, this is a 24 hour activity meaning your child needs to observe it over night.

Look at these ingredients that I had on hand:

■bleach
■vinegar
■water
■three or four bones
■pot for boiling
■3 plastic cups
■masking tape and sharpie

The object of this hands-on lesson is to test how rigid or how flexible are our bones.

Bones Activity 1 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Bones Activity 2 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

So we started by gathering up all of our supplies. Too, try to get all the grizzle and meat off the bones so your child can observe it better.

Then we boiled the bones in water for about 25 minutes or so and took them out to cool.

Bones Activity 3 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Bones Activity 4 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Tiny went ahead and took a test try of the bones to see how rigid or flexible the bones were.

Tiny made an observation and then he guess how they would be after he exposed each one to water, bleach and vinegar over night.

Then we set up each glass and placed one or two bones (depending on how many you have) in each glass.

He covered each one with liquid. I poured the bleach over the one bone.

Bones Activity 5 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Bones Activity 6 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then Tiny took tape and labeled each glass and set aside for the night.

More Human Body Crafts

Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones

The next morning, he took each bone out of the liquid to test the flexibility of each bone.

Bones Activity 7 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Bones Activity 8 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

He tested each bone by trying to move it back and forth.

Which ones bend and which ones did not is the secret for your child to find out.

Here is some information to help you.

■Bones are both stiff and flexible and can bend a bit without breaking if healthy.
■Soaking the bones in acid, which is the vinegar dissolved the calcium. What was left was collagen and they were much more flexible.
■Bleach is a strong base that breaks the collagen and the bones became brittle and broke.
■Soaking the bones in water didn’t do anything.

This was a great activity to help explain the care of bones and healthy eating habits.