Hollow Bones Demonstration

Theme: Support in the skeletal system

  • Get a piece of paper (8 1/2" x 11")
  • Fold it in half so it is 8 1/2" x 5 1/2"
  • Stand it on the table so it is 8 1/2" tall. Do you think it could support a paperback book?
  • Try to balance a book on top of the paper. What happened?
  • Get another piece of paper (8 1/2" x 11")
  • Roll it into a tube roughly 1" to 1 1/2" across and 8 1/2" tall.
  • Place the tube on the table. Do you think the tube could support the book?
  • Try to balance a book on top of the tube. If the tube can support the book, see how much weight it can actually hold by carefully adding more books, etc...

    • Answer the following questions:

    1. Which way of folding the paper allowed it to support more weight? Why do you think this is so?
    2. Compare the weight of the paper to the amount of weight it was able to support.
    3. Why do you think animal bones are hollow tubes and not solid, even though being solid would allow them to support more weight?