Skeletal
System
When you were born, your skeleton had around 350 bones. By the
time you become an adult, you will only have around 206 bones. This is because, as you
grow, some of the bones join together to form one bone.
Our bones don't simply work on their own. The bones join
together to form joints. The end of each bone is covered by a tough, smooth shiny
substance called cartilage. The cartilage-coated bone-ends are kept apart by a thin film
of slippery fluid that works like oil in a car. All of this is so your bones won't scratch
and bump against each other when you move. Our bones are held together by strong stretchy
bands called ligaments.
Our skeleton does three major functions
- It protects our vital organs such as the brain, the
heart and the lungs.
- It gives us the shape that we have. Without our
skeleton, we would just be a blob of blood and tissue on the floor.
- It allows us to move. Because our muscles are
attached to our bones, when our muscles move, they move the bones, and we move.
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