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Body Lab 3-5 / Week 02 / Body Lab Day
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Week 02 · The Skeleton

Body Lab Day

Body Lab Day: Joint Hunt
// The living frame that holds you up
⏱ about 15 min

Body Lab Day: Joint Hunt

Rocket hands everyone a sheet of stickers. "Today we hunt for joints!" he says.

Raven bends her wrist, then her knee. "What do you notice? Do they all move the same way?"

Nova hovers above the family. "Test each joint slowly," she says. "Bend, swing or twist. Then decide."

Everyone gets ready to move.

  1. An adult skeleton has 206 bones that give the body shape and support.
  2. The skull, ribs and spine protect important organs.
  3. Bone marrow makes most of the body's blood cells.
  4. Joints are where bones meet. Hinge, ball-and-socket and pivot joints move in different ways.
◇ FAMILY JOINT HUNT
Make a chart with three columns: hinge, ball-and-socket and pivot.
Take turns slowly moving one joint, like an elbow or a hip.
Does it bend one way, move every way or twist?
Write the joint in the right column.
Try to find at least six joints as a family.
Then play a game: one person names a joint type, and everyone moves one.
Safety first
Move slowly and gently. Never force a joint.
Clear a space so nobody bumps into furniture.
Anyone can sit out a move at any time.
HingeBall-and-socketPivot
For a grown-up
Join in and model slow, gentle moves.
Ask: which joint type did we find the most? Why might that be?
JOINT HUNT CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Your fingers bend one way when you make a fist. What type of joint?
Your hip lets your leg swing forward, back and sideways. What type?
Which type of joint lets you turn your head side to side?
WHY THIS EXERCISEA pivot joint in the neck lets the head turn.

Fantastic hunting! Next week we meet the muscles that pull on these bones to make them move.

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