Getting Started with the Bones

Start with a bare skeleton. Label as many bones as you can. It is OK to call the femurThigh bone; longest and strongest bone in the body; has a large round head and prominent trochanters the thigh bone, just get out as many words you can. Then, go back through the list and add the official name of each bone to your list. Highlight these all a certain color on the skeleton. As you highlight each one, say its name out loud to couple your visual learning with audio input.

Now, complete your list with the bones that you didn’t know. Add their casual names as well as their official names. Highlight each one on the skeleton, saying its name as you do. These are the bones that you need to become more familiar with. Every day, look at this picture at least twice and try to name the bones that you didn’t know. Do this until you know all the bones.

Now, we have to get more specific about features of the bones. This involves obtaining a new vocabulary of alien sounding words such as condyle, foramina, and malleolus. Fortunately, terms such as these are used repeatedly on different bones. For example, the proximalCloser to the point of attachment or origin. end (the end closer to the attachment point of the limb) of your femur, humerusLong bone of the upper arm; articulates with scapula at shoulder and radius/ulna at elbow., and radiusLateral forearm bone (thumb side); rotates around ulna during pronation/supination. is called the headRounded proximal end that fits into the acetabulum of the hip bone. on all three of these bones.