#13 The Muscular System

Review
We began, of course, by reviewing the previous lesson, The Skeletal System.

(Note: I also purchased sets of human x-rays and animal x-rays to have on hand in the classroom throughout the remainder of this main lesson block.)

Day One Story & Exploration
I introduced the topic of the Muscular System by having us move along to the song "Walking Notes" by Hap Palmer's Rhythms on Parade. This got us warmed up and was also a great way to reinforce what my students had been learning in music class!

I took my story for The Muscular System from Linda Allison's book, Blood and Guts: A Working Guide to Your Own Insides.

The chapter is called "Muscles: Your Mighty Movers." I required that the older students take notes during the lesson.

We began by reading pages 37 (System of Squeezers, Muscle Teams), 38, and 39 (Inside a Muscle). We did the Muscle Landmarks activity on page 41.

Then I read pages 42 (Three Kinds of Muscles, All or Nothing, Tone) and 43 (Tired Muscles).

Day Two Review & Exploration

We completed the rest of the chapter from Blood and Guts, reading pages 44 (Lever Lifters, Muscles You Forgot You Had) and 45 (Face Flexing). We did the Calisthenics for Your Face activity from page 45. Then we read page 47 (The Ties that Bind, Human Rubber Band, Amazing Facts).

Next we reviewed the parts and function of the muscular system by looking at the nomenclature three-part cards from ETC Montessori. I laid out and matched the pictures and definitions, and passed out the vocabulary cards to the group. As I showed each picture and read each definition, the child who had that vocabulary term came forward.

We also looked at the The Muscular System page in our atlas of the human body, the Wall Chart of Human Anatomy.

I gave students several additional options for activities. Students could also choose whether to combine the Skeletal and Muscular Systems or present them separately in their main lesson books.

I shared a few poems from Bone Poems by Jeff Moss which I thought could be a fun addition to a MLB. Natalie chose "206" when she did her MLB; this year I had a student choose the limerick about the patella.

I also had available the materials to make the Model Arm activity from page 39 of Blood and Guts (make sure you have on hand two empty cereal boxes per child, some long balloons for making balloon animals, and a hammer and finish nail) as well as the Make Your Own Working Model Hand activity from page 45 of The Human Body: 25 Fantastic Projects Illuminate How the Body Works (this requires a glue gun).

Students were also able to view and compare cardiac muscle and skeletal muscle under a microscope from our set of 25 prepared microscope slides.

Main Lesson Book
Students began to draft their summaries and illustrations for The Muscular System.

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