Kids Learn About Human Skeletons in this Fun Skeletal WebQuest

The purpose of a skeletal WebQuest is to help teach students about the human skeleton by sending them on an Internet information quest. This quest is guided by the task and process outlined in this WebQuest and graded by the teacher according to the information learned by the students.

WebQuests are excellent ways of demonstrating how the Internet can be viewed as a learning tool for students. They are also useful as research based homework and group activities. This WebQuest could be done during class, in computer lab or as homework.

Set theTask

Task: This webquest will teach students the names of the major bones in the human skeleton and enable them to correctly identify these bones on a skeleton or handout. Students will also learn how to recognize the different types of joints which connect the human skeleton.

The Process

Students can work individually or in small groups to complete the following steps in this skeletal WebQuest.

Step #1 - Go to this website Kid Port 5th Grade Science - Body Bones and play the “Bones of the Human Body” game. This game will give students an idea of how many bone names they already know. If students are working in small groups, students should take turns answering questions to give everyone an opportunity to respond.

Step #2 - Go to this website Kids Health - Bones to read information about bones. This site explains what bones are made of, how they grow and how the bones of each part of the human body contribute to the whole skeleton. Students may wish to print the page titles “Your Spine” for a study guide of the major bones of the body.

Step #3 - Go to this website Library Think Quest - Joints to learn about the different types of joints in the human body.

Evaluation and Conclusion

Evaluation: Teachers should use a blank diagram of the human body to help evaluate what the students have learned. Students should be able to label all of the major bones of the human skeletal system. Teachers may wish to use the unlabeled handouts available on the Teacher Enrichment Initiative Bones Unit Curriculum of the UT Health Science Center website. Another option is for students to identify the bones orally on a classroom skeleton.

For the evaluation of their knowledge of joints teachers should should ask for a response to some variation of the following question:

• What are the different types of joints found in the human body and how does each joint work? Please provide examples of each joint.

Conclusion: This skeletal WebQuest should enable students to feel confident in their knowledge of the human skeleton and assist teachers in implementing curriculum based on the human body. Students should also gain a knowledge of the valuable sorts of educational websites available online.