Interactive Biology, by Leslie Samuel

You watched the videos, sat in my class, or some other biology class and you understand how the skin works, what the Skeletal system is all about, and how muscle contraction happens. If that’s true, then you should be able to play this game and answer each question within 30 seconds. It’s really simple, so go ahead and play.

What would the skeletal system be without muscles to move our bones. Muscles are an essential part of what makes us humans and in this lecture, I talk about the three types of muscle, and more importantly, how they work. How does muscle contraction happen at the cellular level? Why does the heart beat on its own? What is actin and myosin and what happens to our muscles in response to exercise? These are a few of the questions I answer in this lecture.

The skeletal system is an awesome structure, and is essential for the protection of our Internal organs, providing a framework for our bodies, producing blood cells and producing blood cells. In this lecture, I deal with the structure of its two main parts: The axial and appendicular skeletons, how bones are formed and details about the functions associated with the skeletal system. I end the lecture by talking about bone injury and disease, such as Osteoporosis.

Section 34.1 deals with the Skin, starting with its structure, with the two layers: Epidermis and dermis. I also talk about the functions of the skin, from regulating internal temperature to functioning as a sense organ, producing vitamin D and protecting the underlying tissue. The lecture concludes with a discussion of what happens to the skin in response to an injury.

I’ve decided from here on out to include the slides and the handout in the same post. Below you will find both the slides and the handout for the chapter on Protection, Support and Locomotion, dealing with the skin, skeletal system, and muscular system. I go into the structure and functions of all three, and get into some of the exciting details of how the skin is involved in temperature regulation, how the skeletal system is there for our protection and how muscle contraction actually happens.