Work Hard. Get Smart. Physician’s Name: _________________________________ Class: 8__ Date: ______________ Mrs. Bouchard – 8th Grade Science

The Muscular System 1. If you blinked, breathed, or if your heart was beating, you used a muscle. •

The muscular system ______________________________________________________.

•

Which system does it work with to allow the body to move? The ________________________________!

•

Fun Fact: The human body has over 600 muscles! (and it takes more to frown than smile)

2. Your muscles can only _____________ (become ______________). They can’t extend and get longer! •

As a result, the muscles you control must ________________________.

CW

Types of Muscles: Reading Activity! DIRECTIONS: Read below with your partner, switching who is the reader and who is the summarizer each paragraph. The cloud should contain the MAIN IDEA of each paragraph.

Some of your body’s movements are easy to control. If you want to smile, you just smile! However, other movements, like the beating of your heart, you can’t control completely. That’s because your heartbeat is controlled by involuntary muscles. Involuntary muscles are muscles that you cannot control. For example, involuntary muscles are responsible for such critical activities as breathing and digesting food. You’re probably much more familiar with the other category of muscle, voluntary muscles. Voluntary muscles are muscles that you can control. When you smile, when you run and when you stand up, you are using your voluntary muscles. Notice how “voluntary” looks like “volunteer”? Just like a volunteer controls when he participates, you can control a voluntary muscle. All of the muscles in your body are either voluntary or involuntary. However, there is another useful way to divide the muscles in your body into groups. Your body has three types of muscle tissue: skeletal muscle, smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. All three are different and do different jobs within your body. Every time you walk across the playground, you are using skeletal muscles. Skeletal muscles pull on your bones to help your body move. These muscles are voluntary; you can control skeletal muscles to move your body. Skeletal muscles are attached to your bones with tendons, a strong type of connective tissue. Skeletal muscles react very quickly – think about how fast you can start running if you want to – but they also get tired very fast.

The second type of muscle tissue in your body is smooth muscle. Smooth muscles are responsible for the movements inside your organs. For example, smooth muscle moves the food around in your stomach. Smooth muscles are involuntary; you don’t need to control them, they simply work automatically to do important jobs. Unlike skeletal muscles, smooth muscles don’t get tired easily. The third type of muscle tissue in your body is cardiac muscle. Cardiac muscle is only found in one part of your body – your heart – and it is responsible for pumping your blood. It is involuntary; you can’t control your heartbeat. Also, your cardiac muscles never get tired. They are always working to pump your blood!

Level 1: Graphic Organizer

___________ Muscles

There are TWO main categories of muscles.

___________ Muscles

are muscles you CAN

are muscles you CANNOT

_________________

_________________ There are THREE main types of muscles.

Skeletal Muscles

Smooth Muscles

Cardiac Muscles

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

___________________

Voluntary or Involuntary?

Voluntary or Involuntary?

Voluntary or Involuntary?

_________________

_________________

_________________

Level 2: Debrief Questions 1. Some muscles are voluntary, while others are involuntary. What’s the difference? ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________ 2. There are three types of muscle. What are they? ___________________________________________________________________________ 3. What kind of muscle can you work out to get bigger? They are the only muscles you can control, meaning they are voluntary. ________________ 4. You can’t control this kind of muscle, but it does important jobs like pump blood through your veins and mix the material in your stomach. _________________________ 5. This kind of muscle is only found one place, but it’s very important. When it contracts, your heart beats! _________________________ 6. Why do skeletal muscles work in pairs? (HINT: Go back to your notes, before the reading.) ___________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________

DONE? Raise your hand to get your work checked out!

3. WAIT UNTIL MRS. BOUCHARD SAYS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION: What is the muscular system, and why is it important?

Think (1)

Pair (2)

CHALLENGE: Name Those Muscles Study the diagram of the human body below, and try to name as many muscles as you can.

Shoulder Muscle = D_____________________

Front of Thigh = Q________________________

Neck and Upper Back Muscle = T____________

Back of Thigh = H_____________________

Chest Muscle = P_________________________

Butt Muscle = G____________ M____________

Inside of Arm, From Shoulder to Elbow =

Lower Back Muscle = L_____________ D______

B_______________________

Calf Muscle = G__________________________

Outside of Arm, From Shoulder to Elbow =

Side of Your Abs = O___________________

T_______________________