Bone Module Biology of the Bone
See the movies
The following movies explore these themes are available for planetarium domes and for home DVD:
Wiggle the tip of your nose with your finger. Your nose bends because it is made of a soft material called cartilage.
Before you were born, your whole skeleton was made of cartilage. As you grew, special cells formed your bones using the cartilage as a frame: One kind of cell munched up the cartilage, while another kind of cell replaced it with bone. Blood vessels grow into the new bone, and feed it with oxygen, calcium, and other important things. Those special cells that make bone are still at work—even when you are fully grown! Your bone is constantly being renewed by these cells so that it remains strong and healthy.
This is the process of bone renovation!
Osteoblasts: new cells
becoming bone cells.
Go into the bone with the animation below and find, at the center of the bone, the bone marrow!
The bone is a rich tissue covered in capillaries and the bone marrow is a marvelous factory for new cells, stem cells, that have the ability to become new blood, brain, bone and heart cells.