Wednesday morning’s class began with the smell of burning bone. Students returned to the lab where they analyzed the bones they prepped on Tuesday to determine their composition. Pre and post masses of the baked bones were used to determine water composition, and the now bendy bones that had been soaked in hydrochloric acid over night were analyzed to determine the mass of inorganic material lost. Next students placed a small portion of bone in a crucible and placed it over a flame to remove the organic materials from the bone and calculate what percent of the bone is composed of organic compounds. Finally they added the results from all three processes together to see how close their results were to 100%. We had some fantastic results. One group was only 2% away from their calculated composition totalling 100%. Wow!
After the morning break, students completed post-lab discussion questions and learned about bone markings and different types of fractures. As usual, a lot of great questions were asked.
Skull bones and sutures were the topic for the afternoon, and students ended the day labeling and diagramming different views of the skull to prepare for Friday’s quiz.
Everyone is looking forward to Thursday’s field trip to Transylvania University where we will be visiting the Moosnick Medical and Science Museum as well as touring the campus and attending an admissions session.
Here are some pictures from our morning.