Name: _____________________________________________ Hour: ___________ Date: ____________
You are what you...drink? ---Chicken Bone Lab
Introduction:
The health of your bones is directly affected by what you drink. What you
consume now will have a great effect on the makeup of your bones when
you’re older. Bones function not only as a support system and for protection, but they are also
important for storage and blood production. A normal human body contains 2.2-4.4 pounds of calcium,
99 percent of which is stored in the bones. Death can actually occur if the calcium concentration in your
bones drops below 50 percent! When a large number of calcium ions are used by the body and removed
from the bone reserves, bones become weaker.
Procedure:
For the past few weeks, I have soaked several chicken leg and wing bones in bleach and vinegar. Some
were also baked in an oven at 250 degrees for 2 hours. Before you and your partner(s) examine the
bones, make a short prediction about what each bone may look like and feel like. Will it still be hard?
Will it be discolored? Will it break more easily?
Safety:
Wear gloves at all times
NEVER taste anything
Be careful with the scalpels
Bone Type
Chicken bone soaked in
vinegar
Chicken bone soaked in
bleach
Chicken bone baked for 2
hours
PREDICTION
Name: _____________________________________________ Hour: ___________ Date: ____________
Now examine the bones provided and fill out the table below. Be detailed in your observations. Include
your observation of the cross-sections of each bone that you observed under the dissection microscope.
Include drawings if needed.
Bone Type
Chicken bone
soaked in
vinegar
Chicken bone
soaked in
bleach
Chicken bone
baked for 2
hours
Observations
BE DETAILED!
Was your prediction
correct? If not, how is the
bone different from a normal
chicken bone?
Name: _____________________________________________ Hour: ___________ Date: ____________
So what’s going on???
What might the vinegar have destroyed or dissolved in the bone that made it different from the
normal bone?
What might the bleach have destroyed or dissolved in the bone that made it different?
What might the heat have destroyed in the bone that made it different?
Conclusion: (Use textbook, pp 108, 142-152)
1. What are bones made up of?
2. What makes your bones so strong?
3. How do the things we drink affect our bones? How do acidic thinks like soda (vinegar
and soda are both acidic!) affect our bones?
4. What might happen to your bones if you do not consume enough calcium in your
lifetime, especially your teen years? Why?
5. What disorders or diseases listed on page 185 of your textbook might lead to your
bones being similar to the bones we looked at today? Explain.