The Skeletal System

1. The Skeletal System

2. Bones Cartilage Joints The Skeletal System Includes

3. Cartilage – Strong connective tissue that supports the body and is softer and more flexible than bone. • Does not contain blood vessels. • Found in the parts of the body that are flexible: tip of the nose and the external ears. Cartilage

4. Joint - A place where one bone attaches to another bone. Joints

5. Support the body • Provides for movement • Bones provide a system of levers on which muscles act to produce movement. • Protects internal organs • Provide a site for blood cell formation • Blood cells are produced in the soft marrow tissue that fills the internal cavities in some bones. • Stores mineral reserves such as calcium Purpose of the Skeletal System

6. The skeleton of an embryo is composed almost entirely of cartilage. • Cartilage is replaced by bone during the process of bone formation called ossification. • Ossification begins to take place up to seven months before birth. Development of Bones

7. Many long bones have growth plates at either end. The growth of cartilage at these plates causes the bones to lengthen. During late adolescence or early adulthood, the cartilage in the growth plates is replaced by bone, the bones become completely ossified, and the person “stops growing.” Development of Bones (Continued)

8. There are 206 bones in the adult human skeleton! Bones in the Human Skeleton