1. What is the structure of the skeleton?
The skeleton of the average adult is made up of about 206 bones.
Each of the different parts of the skeleton is designed to do a
particular job. The skull has 29 bones. It protects the brain and also
the eyes and ears. The central supporting part of the skeleton is the
spine or vertebral column.
The spine or backbone is made up of a chain of small bones called
vertebrae. It has enormous strength. Instead of being one solid piece
of bone, the backbone is made up of large number of small bones to
make the body flexible and thus enable us to bend down.
The vertebrae protect the delicate spinal cord which passes through
the middle. The bottom end of the tip of the spinal column is cared
the coccyx.
The rib cage is made up of the ribs. The arms are joined on to the
central axis of the spinal column by the shoulder girdle and the legs
by the pelvis. The bones of the legs are the longest and biggest in the
body.
