Lab 6

The Appendicular Skeleton

Lab 6

The Appendicular Skeleton

Before you come to lab:

  1. Familiarize yourself with the bones of the appendicular skeleton.
  2. Formulate a list (a mental list is fine) of any axial skeleton bones that you wish to review.
    • These bones, as well as the slides, the baked/acid-treated bone, the sawed bone and the compact bone model are all available to you again this week.

During the lab period (can be completed in any order):

  1. Your lab group has been given either a trunk or a box of bones.
    • Start by separating the bones into two piles: axial or appendicular.
      • If you need help, use one of the skeletons in the lab.
      • The skeletons will be available during the lab exam.
    • Further break down the appendicular pile into the following groups:
      • pectoral girdle bones
      • upper limb bones
      • pelvic girdle bones
      • lower limb bones
    • Make sure that you can identify the following bones. I suggest that you routinely quiz each other on the bones.
      • pectoral girdle bones
        • scapula
        • clavicle
      • upper limb bones
        • humerus
        • radius
        • ulna
        • metacarpals (as a group)
      • pelvic bones (coxal bones)
        • These are hard to make sense of when they have been disarticulated from each other.
        • Try to find the ilium, pubic bone and ischium.
      • lower limb bones
        • femur
        • patella (kneecap)
        • tibia
        • fibula
        • calcaneus
        • talus
        • metatarsals (as a group)
  2. Use the two pelves provided to distinguish the difference between male and female.
    • These are the articulated pelves that are stored in the blue cardboard boxes.
    • ♂ = male; ♀ = female
    • Suggestions:
      • Note the differences in the pubic arch.
      • Note the differences in the size of the true pelvis.
    • Try to determine whether the skeletons in the lab are male or female.
      • One of them is difficult to tell. It’s probably a child’s skeleton, and the gender differences don’t usually show up until puberty.

Before the next lab period:

  1. Learn the bone markings.
    • This can only be accomplished once you have mastered the names of the bones, so make sure you know all of the bones by name first.
    • All of the material that you need to know is summarized on the Lab Exam 1 Review Sheet.
  2. Begin to review previous lab topics, incl. tissues in your Histology Notebook.
  3. The next lab is Lab Exam 1!