Hey, Adventurers! Dr. Bonyfide here, back to answer a few of your questions aboutthe skeletal system.
Keep them coming - remember to submit your children's questions here or on social media!
Q: How many bones are there?
The answer to this question isn’t as simple as you might think! Full-grown adults have206 bones, but babies have about300. How is that possible? Well, a newborn baby’s bones are pretty small, of course. As she or he gets older, many of those little bones fuse together to create bigger bones. That happens as a kid’scartilage - a type of softer connective tissue - is gradually replaced by bone, mostly at the ends of existing bones in areas calledgrowth plates. That process, in which cartilage is replaced by bone, is calledossification. Ossification is usually complete by the time a person reaches their mid-twenties. If ossification happened earlier, you wouldn’t be able to grow as big!
Q: What is the hardest bone to break?
Great question. The hardest bone to break is thefemur- that large bone in your thigh. The femur is the strongest bone in your body - it’s actuallyfour times stronger than concrete. It’s so hard to break because it’s the largest and thickest of all our bones, and also because it’s protected by a lot of leg muscle. To break a femur, someone would need to experience a huge amount of force - usually falling from a great height or getting into a major car crash.
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