[lullu]

How will learners improve their language ability in life science if they see a practical demonstration of the skeleton?'

[Wondergirl]

Is this homework?

Please list three things you've thought of.

[lullu]

No it's not home work. If they see the different bones and hear the names they will remember it. Take part in the demonstation.

[Wondergirl]

I'm not sure what a "practical demonstration of the skeleton" is. It sounds very textbook-ish.

Are you writing up a life science curriculum?

Are the learners students? Children? Adults? Are they learning a foreign language during this "demonstration"?

[lullu]

They are children. English speaking. I want them to learn the names of the different bones. I want to improve their language ability in life science. I want to know how will a practical demonstration help them do that.

[Wondergirl]

There are 206 bones. Can you make cutouts of the various bones and then have the children identify them? -- the bones in the ear, for instance, are unique and look like tools. The bones in the hands and feet are interesting-looking. The tarsals (toes) and phalanges (fingers) -- my teacher had said to remember them by their initial sounds T = tarsals, toes and F = phalanges, fingers. The femur is the largest, longest bone. The humerus is called the funny bone -- humorous, ha ha. Where is it, and why is it called the funny bone?

You might do best with trivia questions for so many of the bones, as above, plus have the students label the bones on sheets of paper that show areas of the body (a leg with the femur, tibia, fibula ; an arm with the humerus, radius, ulna ; a foot with the tarsals, metatarsals, etc.) and the bones. Depending on their age, have them cut out the bones and create a human figure, or give them already cut-out bones and let the students match them onto fleshed-out body parts on different sheets.