Unit 6 Reflection

This unit was focused around basically the anatomy and physiological aspects of bones. We talked about how our bones are almost constantly being slowly destroyed by osteoclasts and being rebuilt (slower or faster depending on your age) by osteoblasts. We also talked about the types of bones, from their classification (long, short, flat, irregular) to the types of bone that are found in bones (spongy and compact). Another thing about bones we talked about were some of the disorders that happen within the skeletal system (arthritis, osteoporosis, scoliosis, lordosis, kyphosis, and rickets). Arthritis is the inflammation of your joints, osteoporosis is when your bones become porous and overall weaker, scoliosis is when there is a sideways curvature of the spine, lordosis is when there is over extension of the lumbar spine, and kyphosis is also known as having a hunched back. The lab that we did this unit was the owl pellet lab, where we took an owl pellet and separated the bones and cleaned (to a certain extent) from the pellet from the fur and/or feathers. Next we measured the skull and the mandible (if the pellet had them) and then we tried to identify the animal the skull and bones belonged to before trying our best to reconstruct the skeleton with what bones we had. I felt really good about this unit, since I've always loved the topic of bones and have always been interested in them. Checking back in on my New Years Goals, I'd say that I've been holding up to them so far and haven't strayed far from them.