Lab Project Unit Three

This is a model of how the muscles and bones work together to create movement. You will first see how the muscle and bone are attached and when the muscle is contracted. The remaining models show what happens to the muscle fibers when a muscle contracts.

Limb Parts and the Model Representations

Bones: Card Board
Muscle: Toilet Paper
Actin Filaments: Cheerios
Myosin: Masking Tape
Cross-bridge: Orange Dots on Myosin
Z-Line: Black Line
Myosin Binding Site: Black Dots on Cheerios
Myosin Head: Card Board Strips
Tropomyosin: Black String
Troponin: Corn Kernels
Calcium: Marshmallow

The models shows how the actin filaments look when they are relaxed and contracted. You also see how calcium causes the actin filaments and the myosin to bind, which causes the actin filaments to contract or shorten. This reaction is what causes a muscle to shorten and contract, creating the ability to move our bones.