BONES
Although bones are light in mass they are strong. Before we are born, our bones are solid. As time progresses some bones become hollow which then causes them to become very light in weight. When our bodies are being developed in the womb, our bones are made of cartilage, a soft and flexible material. As we get closer to being born the cartilage becomes hard and turns into a bone. Bones are hard because of the minerals we get from food we consume. Collagen is another material found in bones that toughens and strengthens them. “About two-thirds of a bone’s weight comes from minerals” (Price, 2010, p. 4). As stated by Simon (1998):
The bones are a storage place for minerals. If certain minerals are needed by other parts of the
body, they are released from the bones into the blood. Up until the age of thirty-five, there is
more new bone being created than there is old bone breaking down. But by the time we reach old age, a lot of minerals and
collagen have disappeared from our bones, which weakens them. These weak bones break more easily, so that elderly
people often suffer from broken bones. (p. 5)
The outer layer of a bone is called a hard bone that is tough and dense. This type of bone is made up of bone cells that are living which form rings around tiny canals and allow blood vessels to pass. The inside of the bone is called the spongy bone that is made of a honeycomb of bone cells with spaces between them. Bones are filled with a jelly like substance called yellow marrow and red marrow. Each bone marrow has a specific duty. Yellow bone marrow is responsible for storing fat and releasing it when necessary into the body. Red bone marrow consists of a tissue that makes white and red blood cells. Red bone marrow also makes “platelets in large amounts—up to five thousand million red blood cells and thousands upon thousands of white blood cells and platelets each day. These cells all do vital jobs—the red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body, the white blood cells fight disease and infection, and the platelets help the blood to clot after injury” (Simon, 1998). Platelets have a sticky surface and are made of fibrinogen that form clots in our blood to stop bleeding. When blood is exposed to air, clots begin to form. Tiny threads are then formed which trap the blood inside and form a scab.
The bones are a storage place for minerals. If certain minerals are needed by other parts of the
body, they are released from the bones into the blood. Up until the age of thirty-five, there is
more new bone being created than there is old bone breaking down. But by the time we reach old age, a lot of minerals and
collagen have disappeared from our bones, which weakens them. These weak bones break more easily, so that elderly
people often suffer from broken bones. (p. 5)
The outer layer of a bone is called a hard bone that is tough and dense. This type of bone is made up of bone cells that are living which form rings around tiny canals and allow blood vessels to pass. The inside of the bone is called the spongy bone that is made of a honeycomb of bone cells with spaces between them. Bones are filled with a jelly like substance called yellow marrow and red marrow. Each bone marrow has a specific duty. Yellow bone marrow is responsible for storing fat and releasing it when necessary into the body. Red bone marrow consists of a tissue that makes white and red blood cells. Red bone marrow also makes “platelets in large amounts—up to five thousand million red blood cells and thousands upon thousands of white blood cells and platelets each day. These cells all do vital jobs—the red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body, the white blood cells fight disease and infection, and the platelets help the blood to clot after injury” (Simon, 1998). Platelets have a sticky surface and are made of fibrinogen that form clots in our blood to stop bleeding. When blood is exposed to air, clots begin to form. Tiny threads are then formed which trap the blood inside and form a scab.