Lesson video

Hi there, my name's Mr. Sways and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today.

This lesson we're gonna be looking at the functions of the skeleton, and it comes from the unit, Anatomy and Physiology: The Musculoskeletal System.

So let's get into it.

Okay, so by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to locate the major bones of the human body and identify the functions of the skeletal system.

We're gonna cover a bunch of keywords, and I want to just quickly run through them with you now.

So anatomy, physiology, musculoskeletal, skeleton, and joint.

Now, I'm sure you've come across a lot of these words already, and you may want to pause the video now just to make a note of what each of them is defined as, but we'll obviously revisit them as we go through the lesson anyway.

And at this point I just hope that you're interested in, and maybe able to suggest some sort of idea of what anatomy and physiology is, and who might want to study it, and why it's important to us as sports scientists, as sports performers, and to the medical profession, but also to the general population.

So the lesson's gonna be broken up into three parts.

In the first section we're gonna be exploring that term, anatomy and physiology.

Then we're gonna be identifying the major bones of the skeleton, and I've got a little model here that we might draw on to try and help with that.

And then in the third section we'll be describing the functions of the skeleton.

So, what is the purpose of the skeleton? What does it do for us as a human being? And maybe you want to pause the video for a second and have a think about that before we get going.

Okay, off we go then.

So, in terms of defining anatomy and physiology.

So anatomy and physiology is the study of the body's systems, and these include the skeletal system, the muscular system, the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system.

And in fact, anatomy is all about those physical structures.

So what are they, where are they in the body? Whereas physiology is how they function.

So for example, the muscular system, that functions to help move us around.

The cardiovascular system, well that functions to circulate blood around the body.

And then the respiratory system, of course, that's in connection with the lungs.

So that functions to be able to get air into the body containing oxygen, and to get rid of carbon dioxide.

Okay, let's have a quick check.

True or false, only doctors and the medical profession need to learn about anatomy.

Is that true or false? That's right.

It's false.

And can you tell me why? Yep, so sports science, sorry, sports scientists and athletes are better able to optimise their performance if they've got that in depth understanding of how the body works, and hence how well it will respond to exercise, how well it'll respond to training, and what will happen in competition.

But this information is also interesting and of use to us for general health and wellbeing.

Okay, so in a little bit more detail then, we've got the skeletal system here, and it's our body support structure.

It's made up of bones, and they connect via tendons to the muscular system.

And collectively the skeletal and muscular, sometimes referred to as musculoskeletal system, enables us to move.

So it is those muscles that are on, skeletal muscles that are connected to bones at joints that enable movement to happen.

Let's do another quick check.

So which of the following is the best description of anatomy? Is it A, the makeup of the skeletal system? Is it B, how the body functions? Or is it C, the structures of the body? Well done.

That's right.

It's C, isn't it? The structures of the body.

Because B, the way the body functions, is talking about physiology.

Okay, so let's take us into the first task for today.

Can you add labels to identify the skeletal and the muscular systems, as well as a short description to state what that system does? And then what I'd like you to go on to do is explain briefly how the systems interact with each other.

So how is it that that muscular and skeletal systems are connected? Pause the video now and come back to me when you're ready.

Okay, so hopefully you've labelled them correctly.

We've got the muscular system there on the left as I look at it, and the skeletal system on the right.

And the muscular system covers our body.

When muscles, and more specifically skeletal muscles, contract they enable us to move as they're attached to bones at joints.

And then we've got the skeletal system, which is made up of a whole collection of bones, which give us our unique shape.

They enable us to move, and they also protect vital organs.

We'll dig into a bit more detail of that later in today's lesson.

And then the second part I wanted you to explain briefly how the systems interact.

Well, the skeletal system provides that framework, doesn't it, of bones.

So we've got the framework here, that's the skeletal system.

And then we've got muscles that would be attached on top of that skeletal system.

And when a muscle contracts, here we are, we're contracting the biceps muscle, which is causing inflexion at the elbow and bending of the arm.

Okay, and that's how we form the musculoskeletal system.

Let's move on into the second part of this lesson, then.

So can you identify the major bones of the skeleton, I wonder? So in fact, there's 206 bones in the human body, and I'm wondering, can you point out the following bones to a partner, or perhaps to yourself? Can you recognise the cranium, the vertebrae, the ribs, the pelvis, the femur, and the humerus? And then I wonder if you can name and identify any additional bones.

So pause the video now, label those ones, and then see what other bone names you can think of and can you figure out where they are? Okay, hopefully you identified that the cranium or skull is up here.

We've then got the humerus, which is the top bone in the arm.

And I dunno if you've ever banged your elbow and gone "Ooh, that caught my funny bone." Well that's in connection to the word humerus and the bone that's above it, that top upper arm bone.

Then we've got the ribs.

Of course, they provide a really important function of protecting all those internal organs inside them.

Then we've got the vertebral column or the vertebrae, and that's made up of lots of individual bones that are all connected by a little disc of cartilage up the back there.

Then we've got the pelvis.

And in fact that's made up of a number of different bones that are joined together.

Then we've got the femur is the biggest long bone in the human body, the thigh bone.

Okay, let's go through these bones then in a little bit more detail and add more to our list of bones.

So we've identified one of these already.

It's the cranium.

But in addition to that, oh no, we've also mentioned the vertebrae already, haven't we? So those top couple of vertebrae that we can see there at the neck are actually called the atlas and the axis, and they allow this rotation movement of the head.

Okay? And then down from that, you can see here we've got, you can see my collarbone actually, but the correct anatomical term for a collarbone is a clavicle.

So there we can see C for collarbone, C for clavicle.

And now let's move on to bones at the shoulder.

And you can see that clavicle again, can't you? Almost like a wishbone at the top there.

So we've got the clavicle, but do you know what that other bone is just underneath it? So a big triangular bone, so a flat bone that is responsible for lots of movement around the shoulder joint.

And in fact it's called the scapula.

So shoulder blade or scapula.

And then we've got the humerus there, haven't we? So that bone of the upper arm.

So let's have a quick check.

Can you label the missing bone in this diagram? Well done.

We've only just covered it, haven't we? So yes, the scapula.

Shoulder blade.

Okay, then we've got the bones in the chest.

Well I've got highlighted here the scapula that we've already talked about.

And you can see the vertebral column as well.

But in addition there we've got what's called the breast bone.

But from a correct anatomical term, we call that the sternum.

So the sternum has a really important role of connecting the ribs to it at the front of the chest.

And maybe you are a footballer and you chest the ball down onto the floor, you are using your sternum to do that.

And then we've got the 12 pairs of ribs, haven't we? Okay, let's move on to the bones of the upper arm and the hand.

So I've mentioned the humerus already, that upper arm bone.

And then lower down, down here, we've got the radius and we've got the ulna.

And in fact, the best way of remembering this is the radius has got an R, in it and so does the wrist.

And it's the radius that joins at the wrist end, whereas the ulna has a main part of its joint up at the top there at the elbow joint.

So the radius is really responsible for joining at the wrist.

And the ulna is more responsible, it's thicker when it's joining at the elbow.

So that helps you distinguish between the two of them.

And then as we move into the hand, we've got the carpals, which go down into the metacarpals here in the hand, and on down into the phalanges.

That's a funny word, isn't it? But phalanges meaning fingers.

Sounds a little bit like fingers, doesn't it? So let's do another quick check, then.

We've got the arm labelled here, and I've got the radius and the ulna identified.

But could you name that bone at the top of the arm? Of course you can, can't you? It's the humerus.

Let's move on down into the hip joint, then.

So can anyone remember what was that main bone of the hip called? That's right, it's the pelvis.

And then what about that main bone that is joined at a ball and socket joint there going into the pelvis, we've got that name thigh bone, which is known as the femur.

Okay.

And then what about these different regions of that vertebral column then? So we've got the vertebrae there, and they have a really important job of protecting the spinal cord that runs down the middle of those vertebrae.

And they're broken up into sections.

So the top two I've mentioned already, they're called the atlas and axis, they allow rotation of the head, and they are called your cervical vertebrae.

There's a number of those at the top there.

Then we've got the thoracic region below that.

And then we have a really important region called the lumbar region.

And you might have talked about, perhaps in your car, having good lumbar support.

And that arched section in the bottom of the back, if you've got good posture, you'll have quite a curl there in your lumbar spine.

And we wanna make sure that we protect that.

And then underneath that we've got the coccyx and the sacrum, which of course evolutionary-wise used to be our tail.

Thinking back to the days of the monkey, that's where our tail would've been attached.

Okay, so bones in the leg and the foot, then.

We've mentioned some of these already.

So we've got the femur, the fibula, and then the patella.

You might have referred to that as the kneecap.

So that's got a really important role of protecting the joint that sits behind the patella.

But it also increases the angle of pull of your quadricep muscle over the top of the patella where it attaches then to the tibia.

So interestingly, the tibia is the most important bone in your lower leg because it's the weight-bearing bone.

It's quite thick at the top and at the bottom.

So if you were to break your tibia, you definitely wouldn't be able to walk.

But actually the fibula, the smaller bone behind there, some people have experienced a a fracture or a break to the fibula and they're still able to walk.

So it's painful, obviously, but it's not essential for walking.

And then on the right-hand side here, we've broken down those bones at the ankle.

So we've got the tarsal bones.

Bit like the carpals in the hand, right? But T for toes 'cause it's down towards your toes.

So we've got the tarsal bones, the metatarsals in the kind of bridge of the foot, and then down to the phalanges.

So your fingers and your toes go by the same name of phalanges.

Let's have a quick check, see if you've managed to remember those.

Which are the two missing bones here? That's right, we've got the femur, the top of the thigh, and we've got the tibia, that really important bone on the shin bone, if you like.

Okay, that now takes us to the first big practise task of this lesson.

So I want you to label the skeletal system with the bones from this table.

Can you label all of them? So pause the video now and come back to me when you are ready.

Okay, let's run through them, then.

Did you get the same answers as me? So we've got the clavicle there or collarbone.

We've got the scapula underneath it, of the shoulder blade.

And remembering I'm giving you these other names from the kind of layman's terms, but you've gotta remember these more medical terms. So clavicle, scapula.

Underneath that we've got the sternum.

So that breastbone.

I had that example, didn't I, of chesting a ball down in football.

Then we've got the ulna, which connects at the elbow, and the radius, which connects at the wrist.

And then we've got the tibia, that main bone at the shin.

Got the cranium, or skull.

Got the humerus at the top of the arm, that funny bone.

We've got the ribs.

The vertebrae, and we talked about the different sections of the vertebral column, didn't we? Then we've got the pelvis.

Then we've got the femur, that long bone at your thigh.

The patella, which protects your knee joint.

And then the fibula.

And then for a second part of this challenge, I'd like you to have a go at labelling those bones in the wrist, hand, ankle, and feet.

Come back to me when you're ready.

Okay, let's buzz through these ones quickly, then.

So have you got the carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges in your hand.

And then the tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges in your toes.

And then finally we mentioned the different regions of the vertebral column, didn't we? So you need to have a go at labelling those.

There we go, then.

So we've got the cervical vertebrae at the top, Down into the thoracic region, down into the lumbar region, then the coccyx and the sacrum where we've got some fused bones together there towards the tailbone.

And then this is the really exciting bit for me about this lesson.

So we've labelled a whole load of bones, we know what they're called now, we can refer to them, but do you know what their purpose is? So, why do those bones exist? What is their function? How do they work together to help us as humans? So the skeletal system provides that framework, doesn't it, to support us, and for other bodily systems to fix to.

Hence it provides us with our unique shape, doesn't it? And it also helps us with our posture.

And a summary of its functions is as follows.

So it protects vital organs.

And you know, in here behind the rib cage, we've got some really important organs that need protecting, haven't we, for example.

Provides that site of muscle attachment to enable movement to happen.

And as I've said, that site of muscle attachment enables movement to happen at joints.

But also there's a really important role actually in our long bones.

So if I take the femur as an example, that's the longest bone in the human body, and in the bone marrow there, new blood cells are produced within the bone marrow, so within that long bone.

And then finally, the bones are also important because they store calcium and phosphorus, which are two nutrients or elements that are really important to us as a human.

Okay, so let's have a little quick check then, shall we? So I mentioned briefly that idea of protection.

So the bones have a role in protecting us.

And in fact it's the flat bones in particular, like those that make up the cranium, that act as this sort of protective shield to prevent damage to the organs beneath them.

And in the case of the skull or the cranium, it's protecting damage to the brain.

That's really important, isn't it, in in sports like boxing, or contact sports like rugby that we've got to have that cranium to protect our brain.

But the heart and lungs in here, what are they protected by? That's right, it's the sternum and the rib cage, isn't it? And then we've got the vertebral column that protects the spinal cord as well.

And then that next function is that the skeletal system provides that sort of place for muscle attachment and movement to happen.

So those two are kind of combined, aren't they? And bones provide that anchor point for muscles, and for them to attach, we call it the the origin and the insertion of where the muscles are attaching across a joint.

And it means that then once a muscle contracts, it can pull a bone to create movement.

And then we contract a different muscle to move back into that previous position.

So I've done it there, I have haven't I? The example of flexion at the elbow joint when the biceps contracts.

And we might do that if we are preparing to make a chest pass in netball.

And then the execution of that chest pass will be when we extend at our elbow joint, which is using our triceps muscle.

Onto the next function.

If I was to cut one of these bones open, we would see the bone marrow, and actually some blood supplies going into the middle there because there's a really important role of the bones to create platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells.

And hopefully you know that platelets have got that really important role of clotting the blood.

So that stops us from bleeding if we've cut ourselves.

And then red blood cells have an even more important role when it comes to sort of endurance sports, for example, because they carry oxygen around the body.

And of course it's that oxygen that provides energy for our muscular contractions to happen.

But then we also make white blood cells in our bone marrow.

And the white blood cells have that really important role of fighting infection.

So, onto the last function of the skeleton, then.

I mentioned earlier, didn't I, that it helps store minerals.

Well the bones are a really good store of calcium and of phosphorus, and they're needed to help keep our bones healthy.

So sports performance need really strong bones, don't they, to reduce the risk of fracture.

So for example, if this number 21 here went in for a two-footed slide tackle, there'd be a real big risk of a fracture in that player in the yellow T-shirt.

But, if they've got a really good diet and really good minerals, their bones are gonna be more resistant to breaking.

That's why we drink milk, isn't it? One example.

So, which of the following is not a function of the skeleton? That's our next quick check.

Is it A, a site for muscle attachment to allow movement.

Is it B, providing support to hold the body upright.

Is it C, production of blood plasma.

Or is it D storage of minerals including calcium and phosphorus.

Which of those is not a function of the skeleton? That was quite a tough one, wasn't it, 'cause lots of them were.

And of course we do produce red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets, but we do not produce plasma in our long bones.

Okay, that brings us into our last task of today's lesson.

I'd like you to have a go describing the functions of the skeleton.

And you need to make reference to the areas below, and include a sporting example of each.

So I want you to mention protection, muscle attachment, joints and movement, blood cell production, and mineral storage as a part of your answer.

Pause the video now and come back to me when you are ready.

Well done.

Hopefully you enjoyed that little bit of extended writing.

And here's an example of what perhaps you might have written.

So the skeletal system is made up of bones and joints.

That key word of joints.

So a joint is a place where two or more bones meet and enable movement to happen there.

Hopefully you also said something about how bones provide protection of vital organs.

And then we've got the example of the cranium protecting the brain when you perform a header in football.

Bones also provide a place for muscles to attach, and hence produce movement at joints.

For example, and we've used this example a lot in today's lesson, flexion at the elbow joint to prepare to pass a ball in netball.

And then platelets.

Red and white blood cells, but not plasma, are produced in the bone marrow.

And red blood cells are really important to help carry oxygen.

And that oxygen's really required by endurance athletes in things like the marathon.

And finally, bones also store minerals like calcium and phosphorus.

Well done with that one.

Okay, so that brings us to the end of today's lesson.

I hope you've enjoyed it.

And I really think that we've grasped some of those key terms around bones and structure of the skeleton to better understand where they're located, but also what their role is.

So we talked at the beginning, didn't we, about how anatomy and physiology is that study of the body and its structures and how they function.

And then we built on that to say the musculoskeletal system is made up of muscles, bones, joints, and connective tissues like tendons and ligaments, and they work together to allow movement to happen.

The skeleton has got some important functions, hasn't it? And these are the ones that you're gonna need to remember.

So it protects vital organs.

For example, the cranium protects the brain.

The rib cage protects the heart and lungs.

Provides a site for muscle attachment.

So if we didn't have a skeletal system, those muscles would have nothing to attach to.

And because of that site of muscle attachment, joints can allow movement to happen.

We also have blood cells that are produced in our long bones.

In particular, the femur, as the longest long bone in the body.

And then bones are also responsible for storing minerals.

Hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

I know I have, and I look forward to seeing you next time.

Thanks again.