Skeletal System and Bone

1. What components of real bone tissue did you include in your bone model?
▪I used the newspaper to represent the Periosteum. I used skinny sticks to represent the compact bone, and i used cotton swabs to represent the spongy bone.

2. What components of real bone tissue did you have trouble including in your bone model? Why?

•I had trouble with the spongy bone. It was hard to place all the cotton swabs onto the little sticks and have the paper mache (newspaper) stick onto that.

3. What is the role of osteocytes, osteoblasts, and osteoclasts in bone repair?

▪A process called osteogenesis develops the bone matrix. Osteogenesis requires two types of cells, osteoblasts (bone-forming cells) and osteogenic stem cells. Osteogenic stem cells are undifferentiated cells and can become any kind of cell needed for bone formation. Osteoblasts are scattered throughout bones and make new bone cells called osteocytes. Osteocytes are arranged throughout the bone matrix in circular patterns around a central tunnel called a haversian canal.

This canal contains small blood vessels and nerve fibers that supply the needed nutrients to the bone matrix. There are also small, hollow channels called canaliculi that link all of the osteocytes of the bone matrix together so nutrients and wastes can be transferred from one osteocyte to the next. Lastly, bone cells called osteoclasts are present in the bone matrix to break down old bone when new bone layers form. This ensures that the inner cavities of the bone shift with bone growth and repair.

4. If you had to redesign your model, what would you do differently?

▪If I had to redesign the model, I would think of a thing to use to represent the spongy bone. Everything else went very smoothy really when making the model!