Are you looking for supplemental materials for your study of muscles and bones? I have ideas for you!
One year we were in the midst of a STEM Challenge about robotic hands and I discovered students did not know how muscles and bones worked together. We had to stop and learn all about ligaments, tendons, muscles, and the skeleton.
I love it when this happens, don’t you? #learningisfun
I now have several resources we use when we study about muscles and bones, and guess what? These work perfectly at Halloween time! (or anytime!)
In this post, for your convenience, you may find Amazon Affiliate links to resources. This means that Amazon will pass on small percentages to me with your purchase of items. This will not create extra costs for you at all! It will help me keep this blog running!
4 perfect ways to learn about muscles and bones!
This includes reading, task cards, nonfiction, an escape room, and a STEM Challenge. I know it sounds great, right?
- Muscles and Bones Reading Passages
- Skeleton Task Cards featuring Nonfiction Text Features
- Skeleton Escape Room
- Robotic Hand STEM Challenge
Let’s take a closer look!
Muscles and Bones Reading
I call these sets print and read because that is exactly what happens. Easy- print the passages and students are reading in minutes.
There are 4 reading passages in 2 ability levels with basic comprehension questions.
My favorite part is the additional magazine-style layout with 3 pages of work!
The magazine-style page features several articles about skeletons and a quiz. There’s also a vocabulary worksheet and a main idea worksheet.
Stir up some interest with this set and then get ready for TASK CARDS!
Skeleton Nonfiction Text Features Task Cards
This is another of my favorite resources! I love the magazine-style reading and this task card set has 4 pages!
The pages are labeled with nonfiction text features and there are 64 task cards! Amazing!
The task cards include basic comprehension, identifying the text features, identifying the purpose of text features, and open-ended tasks. Students love these. They are PERFECT for use with teams!
Skeleton Escape Room
Students have 3 tasks to complete. Each task gives them a number clue which is the lock code for a real lock. They unlock a box and receive their next task! How fun is this!
Now, if you are worried about those locks and boxes, don’t be!
I include ideas for using cardboard boxes and I include a “paper-lock” system.
Students bubble their answers on the lock strip and “escape”!
The tasks work best with upper elementary students. Do you notice in the photo that the tasks use a Skeleton Newspaper? That means reading is featured in this Escape Room!
Now, let’s get back to Muscles and Bones! We started this series with reading about muscles and bones and then took a dive into the skeleton. So, how do those connect? This Robotic Hand STEM CHallenge will wrap it all up!
Robotic Hand (Muscles and Bones Together!)
Students start this STEM Challenge with a demonstration of how their own fingers, arms, and tendons move together. It is an eye-opening demo that will make them excited to build a model.
Then, teams will design and build a model of a robotic hand that has moving fingers.
The resource gives you two different ways to complete the challenge and you will love it!
As always, my STEM resources include details! Tips and photos and step-by-step details will make this a fun experience for YOU and your students!
What a fabulous series of resources to learn about muscles and bones working together! Click on any image or title to see more details:)
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