The Muscular and Skeletal Systems
The muscular system, which includes skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscles, is controlled by the nervous system (except, of course, for the cardiac muscle that functions involuntarily) and is responsible for movement. Consisting of 206 bones as well as joints, cartilage and ligaments, the skeletal system provides the strong, internal framework that supports our body. This Web guide spotlights a selection of Web sites on the muscular and skeletal systems that range from the simple to the complex.
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Expand All Guide SectionsMuscular and Skeletal System Basics
The Web sites in this section can teach you all about muscles and bones and even show you what might be causing the pain in your knee, all in terms that are useful and understandable.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Most sites recommended below contain impressive graphics. If you’re searching the subject purely out of curiosity, clicking around various sites to view the illustrations can give you a fascinating introduction to the topic.
- Be aware that many anatomical sites use photographs of cadaver parts for illustration purposes. If you object to this practice or find such images disturbing, be sure to proceed with caution.
Dulcinea's Picks
Michael J. Farabee, Ph.D.
, a biology professor at Estrella Mountain Community College, presents a comprehensive discussion of the muscular and skeletal systems. The clear, highly informative text is accompanied by numerous fascinating drawings. Technical terms and keywords are linked to a glossary.
Minnesota State University
provides a vast amount of information on the skeletal system written in lay terms. The introduction lists all the bone groups, each of which is linked to a page providing a photograph and a discussion of the various bones in the group, which in turn link to individual pages with their own photos and explanations.
North Harris College
offers daily Skeletal Anatomy Practice Quizzes that each consist of a list of bones. Click on one for a photograph of that bone and several numbered blanks for you to fill in with the name of the particular location. Give up? Click “answers” to see all the blanks filled in.
The Skeletal and Muscular Systems for Kids and Teachers
For a parent whose curious child wants to know why she has to wear a cast on her arm after breaking it, or the teacher who wants to capture the attention of his class when talking about bones and muscles and marrow, we’ve provided Web sites that can help you get the job done.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Most sites include fun and fascinating facts about the muscular and skeletal systems to keep kids interested. It’s probably best for a teacher to read through and discuss the information along with the class to keep kids focused on the science rather than the “fun stuff.”
Dulcinea's Picks
Biology4Kids.com
gives a kid-friendly overview of the skeletal system. It touches on the major scientific terms and mixes the science with fun anecdotes. Look for a true/false quiz on the skeletal system near the bottom of the page.
The ThinkQuest Library
includes a site on the skeletal system that uses bright graphics and a lizard as a tour guide to lead you through the system, providing an image and explanation at each stopping point. The language is simple yet informative, with keywords linked directly to a glossary. Another site within the ThinkQuest Library gives a brief, nonscientific summary of the muscular and skeletal systems followed by some fascinating facts about each.
Discovery Kids
presents “Your Gross and Cool Body: Muscular System,” a brief overview of the muscular system in language that kids can appreciate, along with interesting facts. There’s a similar section on the skeletal system, too.
Advanced Muscular and Skeletal System Resources
Orthopedists who need to reference information about a specific injury, med students in search of high-resolution images of specific muscles and athletes wanting to better understand their strength training regimen can all find what they seek at the sites below.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Orthopedic doctors and surgeons should note that, although the sites in this section of the Web guide include advanced information and resources that can serve as useful references, you’ll also find more basic information and illustrations that would be useful for showing and explaining injuries and ailments to patients.
- Even experts might encounter an unfamiliar term or two while doing research. When that happens, consult BioAnth.org’s extensive Glossary of Skeletal Anatomy.
Dulcinea's Picks
Loyola University Medical Education Network
features a Master Muscle List that allows you to generate a list of muscles either by region or alphabetically. Select any one of the more than 100 muscles to access an image as well as the origin, insertion, action and nerve associated with that muscle.
The eSkeletons Project
allows you to view the bony anatomy of the human body and learn about the important morphological and muscular features of its skeleton. Select a bone to launch the interactive viewer and see several images of the bone as well as “overlays” depicting major muscle origins, insertions, articulations and morphological features. Three-dimensional bone morphology can also be viewed using QuickTime.
E-anatomy
lets you click on any region of the body for numerous three-dimensional, labeled, animated images as well as several labeled cadaver photographs. The site also displays more than 1,500 slices from normal CT and MR exams, thus covering the entire sectional anatomy of the human body.
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
