Animals Including Humans Year 5 Working Scientifically: Planning an Investigation

Lesson 2 Bones

What will you learn today? Name a variety of animals, including humans, that have a skeleton. Name the functions of the skeleton. I can identify independent and dependent variables.

Key words for today Bones Calcium Control Dependent variable Fair Test Functions Independent Variable Joint Scientific enquiry Skeleton Variable

Draw a skeleton Put a piece of wallpaper on the floor and draw around one of your friends. Draw where you think bones should go. Think about their size and shape. Label any bones you know on your drawing. When everyone is finished, go and see each group’s drawings. You can leave post-it note comments about their skeleton drawing and add any additional information you know about bones!

Some things to think about…. Which are the largest and smallest bones in your body? Why do bones need to be strong? What are bones made from? Find a friend who broke their bone and ask them how they did it. Find out how broken bones are fixed.

X-Rays An X-Ray is a picture of bones. They are taken with an X-Ray machine, usually if someone has broken a bone. Look at your X-Ray pictures. Which parts of your body do you think your bones protect? See if you can match the organ picture cards with the X-Rays.

What are you going to do today? Science Lab A (Part 1): What are bones are made of? Science Lab A (Part 2): Planning an investigation Science Lab B: Make a moving skeleton Science Lab C: Animal and human bones Science Lab D: People and bones

Lab A (Part 1): What are bones made of? Wear safety gloves for this investigation. Look at the bones in the beakers. Beaker A has bones in water. Beaker B has a bones in vinegar. Take both sets of bones carefully out of the beakers and put them on a paper towel. Make sure you don’t mix them up. Examine the bones. How are they similar? How are they different? What has happened to the bones in the vinegar? What conclusion can you make? The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Lab A: What are bones made of? Bones are made from calcium. Calcium makes bones strong. Calcium is a chemical element. It’s actually a metal! It can be found in different minerals, such as limestone. The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Lab A (Part 2) Planning an Investigation Look at the bones from Lab A again. You are going to plan an investigation to find out the answer to this question: Which bone is the strongest? Plan a fair test to answer this question, including: Your independent variable Which variables you will keep the same Your dependent variable What kind of numerical data you will collect The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Lab A (Part 2) Record your learning These are the possible variables in my investigation about the strongest bone: Independent variables: Dependent variables: Ask the children to write this in their books. This relates to their working scientifically learning objective.

Lab B: Make a moving skeleton You are going to make a moving skeleton to show the position of the joints. Research the following joints, where they are found and how they work: ball and socket hinge gliding fixed pivot The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Lab B: Make a moving skeleton Now that you know all the different types of joints, you can make your skeleton. Draw your skeleton on the card and cut out the bones. Use the split pins to connect the bones Make a video of your skeleton moving and name all the types of joints The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Lab C: animal and human bones You are going to find out about the similarities and differences between the skeletons of different animals, including humans. Activity A Look at the skeleton and skull models. Match the bones with the labelling cards. Activity B Use the skeleton cards to compare the skeletons of different animals and humans. Group the animals by the kind of skeleton they have. Choose two different animals. Compare and contrast their skeletons. Create a table to show the similarities and differences between the two skeletons. The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Lab D: people and bones Research why people who do these jobs need to know about bones: Archaeologist NASA space scientist Osteopath Radiographer Orthopaedic surgeon Write a short job description of each job (25 words maximum) The Lab instruction slides can be printed (and laminated) for the children. This will allow them to work independently

Challenge! Challenge 1: Find out about osteoporosis. What is it? Who gets it? How is it treated? How can you avoid getting it? Challenge 2: How could you improve your diet to make sure your bones are healthy? Write a short paragraph and list any foods you think you should eat more of. In general, larger animals have a slower resting heart rate than smaller ones

What did you learn today? Using what you have learned today, write down 3 questions with their correct answers on post-it notes. Ask your partner your questions, and swap. When you have finished, ask these questions: Did you and your partner answer the questions correctly? How could you improve your answers? This is an opportunity for the learning to be assessed.

How did you get on? My Learning Objectives What do I think? What does my friend think? What does my teacher think? I can name a variety of animals including humans that have a skeleton. I can name the functions of the skeleton. I can identify independent and dependent variables. This is an opportunity for the learning to be assessed. Self/Peer/Teacher assessment opportunity. Ask the children to draw or stick this in their books. Use your marking policy to agree how you will show whether the objective has been achieved, exceeded or working towards.