This year our Science Blast question is:
How Do Broken Bones Heal?
Firstly we watched and discussed a video on the human skeleton. We learned that we have 300 bones at birth and 206 when we are fully grown adults.
We learned that vitamin D and calcium are very good for our bones. We explored how we get vitamin D and calcium – from sunshine and from dairy products such as milk, yoghurt and cheese.
Teacher showed us an ad that was on telly when she was small about looking after your bones!
Next we studied a labelled diagram of the human skeleton in the Curam Teachers in Residence booklet. This helped us to revise the names of our bones. We learned the functions of bones:
- they give us structure and support
- they allow us to move
- they protect our vital organs (for example our ribs protect our heart)
- and they make blood cells.
Thirdly, we learned how to draw the human skeletons ourselves. This was so much fun. 1st and 2nd class joined us for this.
Our diagrams came out very well. We labelled our pictures and we were delighted with the results.
We constructed our own skeletons using the Stem Wizz DIY kits. We followed the instructions carefully and referred to the labelled diagram to ensure we had all the bones in the correct places. We had lots of fun.
We played a great game that tested you on your knowledge of the bones!
https://www.purposegames.com/game/label-the-skeleton-game
Next we watched and discussed another video on the skeletal system, with a quiz on bones.
We used a great video with a song to help us to remember the names of the different bones in our body.
After this we discussed broken bones. Pupils in our class shared their experience of what happened to them. We enjoyed asking them questions about this. They were very helpful.
We began to wonder how broken bones actually heal.
Our prediction:
The bones reconnect but we’re not sure how. We know that sometimes pins are needed to hold the bone in place (as this was the case with Tom.)
Our findings:
We used a really good website called KidsHealth to explore broken bones.
https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/broken-bones.html
We learned that in the first few days after a fracture, the body forms a blood clot around the broken bone to protect it and deliver the cells needed for healing. We drew a diagram of this.
Next, an area of healing tissue forms around the broken bone. This is called a callus. It joins the broken bones together. It’s soft at first, then gets harder and stronger over the following weeks.
We decided to create a model of a broken bone, a blood clot and a callus. We thought that using Bonio dog treats would be perfect to use as bones! We decided to use air-drying clay to act as the callus – we predicted that it would work perfectly as it is also soft and first and gets stronger and harder overtime.
A great video to conclude our project on how bones heal. In our next Science lessons we will explore the muscles and tendons in our bodies.
