Over the course of the semester you will learn to identify the bones of the human skeleton as well as important features on individual bones.  We will learn the bones in six lab sessions.  Lab 1 covers the skull, Lab 2 covers vertebrae, Lab 3 covers the pelvic girdle, Lab 4 covers the thorax, Lab 5 covers the upper limbs, and Lab 6 covers the lower limbs.  We must have a sound understanding of the bones and features before we can analyze race, sex, age, stature, trauma and pathology.

One of the best ways to learn the bones is to draw them and label the features and landmarks.  Using the lab manual as well as reference books available in the lab (e.g., White's Human Osteology and Bass' Human Osteology), you will do draw and label the bones and important features.  You will also label some xerox drawings of bones.

It is very important that each student handle the bones carefully.

• Bones must be kept on plastic trays, bubble wrap, or another padded surface.

• Students must wear gloves when handling real bones.

• Bones must never be separated from their labels and tags.

• Use clean unlined paper for your drawings.

• Draw on one side of the page only.

• Make large drawings, using the entire page for large bones. Do not put more than two or three small bones on the same page, and, if you do, be sure that the bones are in the same order as they are listed on the lab overview.
  

• For specimens made of more than one bone (such as the skull, the innominate, the sternum), you will use one colored pencil to label the bones (including arrows between label and bone) and another color to label the features (including arrows between label and feature).
  

• Do not color-in the bone drawings.

• Be sure your titles and labels are written clearly.
  

• Frequently sharpen your colored pencils and apply adequate pressure when using the colored pencils, such that labels and arrows are crisp and easy to read.
  

• Be sure to spell all terms correctly. Spelling counts!

• Do not use keys to label your drawings.

• Put as many labels as possible within the drawings, as opposed to listing the labels along the margins and using arrows to connect the label and the bone, feature, or landmark. This is especially important for the skull drawings.
  

• When using an arrows, be sure that the end of your arrow points exactly to the intended bone, feature, or landmark. Also, use a ruler or straight-edge to draw the arrows.
  

• Do not label bones, features, or landmarks other than those listed on the lab overviews. In other words, nothing extra!
  

• Never abbreviate bone names, features, landmarks, view terms, or directional terms. The only exceptions are that you may use I, C, P, and M when labeling incisors, canines, premolars, and molars on the skull drawings, and you may use MC1, MC2, MC3, MC4, MC5, MT1, MT2, MT3, MT4, and MT5 when labeling the metacarpus of the hand and metatarsus of the foot.
  

• Put the proximal end of the bone at the top or left of the page. Or, put the superior side of a bone toward the top or left of the page.

• Be sure your drawings show sufficient detail so the features are clearly visible; do not simply draw an outline. This is very, very important!!!

• Do not draw from the book. You need to look at the actual bones or bone casts.
  

• All drawings will be submitted in a manila folder.

• Put your drawings in the order they are covered in the lab overviews.

• Do not staple the drawings.

• Do not include papers other than your drawings. In other words, no lab overviews, previous labs, lecture notes, etc.
  

• Lab Exercise 1         Tuesday, February 5
  

• Lab Exercise 2         Thursday, February 7
  

• Lab Exercise 3         Tuesday, February 12
  

• Lab Exercise 4         Thursday, February 14
  

• Lab Exercise 5         Tuesday, February 19
  

• Lab Exercise 6         Thursday, February 21