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Bone Dissection Essay

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The skeletal system is made up of cartilage and bone. Both bone and cartilage are connective tissues, that is, they are composed of cells in a matrix with intracellular fibers. Just imagine connective tissue as a gelatin salad with grapes and coconut. The grapes would represent cells, the gelatin the support material for matrix, and the pieces of coconut the intracellular fibers. By changing the amounts of each ingredient and adding extra substances, we can produce a material that is very hard like bone and can withstand weight or softer like cartilage which can be used as a cushioning material. In this exercise, we will examine a fresh raw chicken bone to study bone structure. Materials
Note: To complete both experiments, you …show more content…

Compact bone looks dense and solid, yet it is filled with passageways that serve as conduits for nerves, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels (Marieb, 181). When observing the spongy bone, I noticed that it appeared dark and porous. It was flexible. The compact bone made up the majority of the chicken leg and was difficult to pierce with the knife. The spongy bone had a dark gray/blackish color.

2. How does cartilage differ from bone? How did each one feel when pierced with the knife? Cartilage doesn’t contain any nerves or blood vessels and is surrounded by a layer of dense irregular connective tissue, the perichondrium (Marieb, 176). Bones contain various types of tissues which makes them organs. They are used for support, protection, movement, mineral storage, and blood cell formation (Marieb, 178-179). The cartilage was tough and flexible, and it was difficult to cut through. The bone, however, when I finally was able to cut through it, had blood within it. This proves that bone is the site for blood formation. The bone was more difficult to cut through than the cartilage.

3. How did the periosteum and endosteum differ in thickness? The periosteum seemed thicker because it was more difficult to peel away from the chicken leg. The endosteum wasn’t that difficult to pull away from the spongy bone. So based on what I saw, I believe the periosteum is thicker than the endosteum. 4. Was the bone

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