The Skeletal System
Directions: After each section of information answer the questions and then label and color the bone
you have just learned about. Use the front skull handout and side view skull handout to complete
labeling. Both handouts as well as this one, are located in this week’s lesson folder on my online
classroom.
The Skull:
• Is part of the Axial Skeleton
• Is composed of the : Cranium
Facial Bones
Cranium:
• Is a spherical structure that surrounds and protects the brain.
• Is made of eight bones- Frontal-1
Parietal-2
Temporal-2
Occipital-1
Ethmoid-1
Sphenoid-1
• At birth, the cranium is not a solid bone. Spaces called fontanels or "soft spots" allow for the
enlargement of the skull as brain growth occurs. The fontanels are made of cartilage and turn into solid
bone by approximately eighteen months of age.
Facial Bones:
• There are 14 facial bones:
Maxilla (upper jaw)-2
Zygomatic (cheek)-2
Mandible (lower jaw)-1
Lacrimal (inner aspect of the eye)-2
Nasal-5
Palatine-2
Sutures:
• Areas where the cranial bones have joined together.
Sinuses:
• Air spaces in the bones of the skull that act as resonating chambers for the voice. They are lined with
mucus membranes.
Foramina:
• Openings in the bone that allow nerves and blood vessels to enter or leave the bone.
Questions
1. The skull is a part of what skeletal system?
2. The skull is composed of the cranium and
_________ bones.
3. The cranium protects the _________________.
4. What are the eight bones that make up the cranium?
5. What are the spaces at birth on the cranium that allow
the cranium to grow?
6. How many facial bones are there?
7. What are sutures?
8. What are sinuses?
9. What are opening in the bones that allow nerves and blood vessels to enter or leave the bone