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Middle School Biology Department: 7th Graders Investigate Composition of Bones

October 20, 2022

Recently, the 7th grade students began to learn about the skeletal system. In order to further develop their understanding, teachers planned an experiment called "Exploring the Composition of Bones".

First, students were asked “Why are bones hard?” and “Are bones alive?” With their knowledge of the scientific method they had learned at the beginning of this semester, they were encouraged to think about how to design an experiment to answer these questions. Through a guided series of questions, students used their imagination and engaged in scientific exploration. The independent variable for this experiment was various liquids, and the dependent variable was the change in bone strength/elasticity after soaking in different kinds of liquids for a period of time. Six different liquids were used in this experiment. The bones placed in water served as the control group, while vinegar and hydrogen peroxide were the first and second experimental groups. Students were able to choose between Coca-Cola, milk, or orange juice as their final experimental group. During the experiment, students peeled the meat off of the chicken bones and placed them in the tubes to soak for 72 hours. After three days, they observed the change in bone strength as well as other physical changes to the bones. Students also recorded their observations for further analysis.

On October 18th, students received the result. While completing this experiment, they applied the scientific method to solve practical problems. Through experimentation, they gained a better understanding of the composition of bones and also gained a greater understanding of how to maintain a healthy skeletal system.

Written by Michael Martin

Pictures by Fenghua Wang

Edited by Serene Yang, Niall Keenan