Unit 4 Essential Questions
Lesson 4.1 Joints and Motion
1. What role do joints play in the human body?
Joints are the places where two bones meet and allow movement & flexibility and
provide support to the human skeleton.
2. How are joints classified by both structure and function?
Functionally, joints are classified by how much motion they allow. Structurally, joints are
classified as fibrous, cartilaginous, or synovial
3. What are the different types of synovial joints?
o Pivot joint
o Ball-and-Socket joint
o Saddle joint
o Condyloid (Ellipsoidal) joint
o Hinge joint
o Plane (Planar or Gliding) joint
4. What role do cartilage, tendons, and ligaments play at a joint?
o Cartilage - Cushions/protects bones where they meet and rub against each other.
The cartilage found in joints is hyaline cartilage
o Tendons - Fibrous tissue that connects muscles to bones
o Ligaments -Fibrous straps that fasten bones to other bones
5. What terms describe the path of movement at a joint?
o Depression and elevation
o Rotation and circumduction
o Flexion and extension (and hyperextension)
o Abduction and adduction
o Plantar flexion and dorsiflexion
6. What is range of motion?
Range of motion is the range through which a joint can be moved & can be measured
using a goniometer to determine angles.
7. How do you measure the range of motion of a particular joint movement?
o Joint has a normal range of motion expressed in degrees.
o Devices include:
• Goniometer
• Inclinometer- which use a stationary arm, protractor, fulcrum, and
movement arm to measure angle from axis of the joint.
o Measurement
• vary by the degree of resistance
• two results are recorded in most cases.
8. How do bones, muscles and joints work together to enable movement and locomotion for
the human body?
Our bones provide support and give our bodies shape, but cannot move on their own.
The muscles provide the movement. The joints attach bones to one another, provide
flexibility, & allow the muscles to move the bones.
Lesson 4.2 Muscles Essential Questions
1. How do muscles assist with movement of the body and of substances around the
body?
o Allows all movement of our bodies (and within our bodies).
o Stabilizes body position and helps regulate body heat
o Involuntarily movement of food move down the esophagus and into the stomach
(peristalsis)
o help blood move through our bodies
o Helps moves our bodies voluntarily from place to place
o Our bodies have about 650 muscles & about 50% of
o Our body weight is from muscle!!
2. How do the structure and function of the three types of muscle tissue compare?
a. Skeletal - They are striated muscle fibers. They are attached to bone by a tendon,
mostly in the legs, arms, abdomen, chest, neck and face. They hold the skeleton
together and give the body shape. They are voluntary and contract quickly and
powerfully, but they tire easily.
b. Smooth -They are smooth (non striated) & are controlled automatically by our
nervous system. They are also called ―involuntary muscles. They make up the
walls of the stomach and intestine to help break down and move food. They also
line the walls of blood vessels. They take longer to contract than skeletal
muscles, but also don’t tire as easily.
c. Cardiac - They are striated muscle fibers. They form the wall of the heart &
function involuntarily. The do not fatigue.
3. How are muscle fibers and membranes organized to form a whole skeletal muscle?
a. The epimysium (“upon muscle”) is the outermost layer of connective tissue.
b. The perimysium (“around muscle”) is made of connective tissue and forms
casings for bundles of muscle fibers.
c. The endomysium (“within muscle‖) is connective tissue surrounding each
individual muscle fiber.
4. What do skeletal muscle structure and attachment to bones tell you about function?
Muscles each have an insertion, where they attach to the moveable bone and an
origin, where they attach to the stationary bone.
5. How are muscles named?
Several factors go in to naming muscles:
o Location
o Shape
o Points of attachment
o Relative size
o Number of muscles
o Direction of muscle fibers
o Association with characters
6. What are the requirements for muscle contraction?
Stimulus of a nerve impulse, calcium, and ATP.
7. What role do calcium and ATP play in muscle contraction?
Calcium ions cause troponin and tropomyosin to shift, exposing myosin binding
sites. ATP causes myosin heads to release the actin.
8. What is a sarcomere?
The contractile unit of a myofibril; sarcomeres are repeating structural units of
striated muscle fibrils, delimited by the Z bands along the length of the myofibril.
9. How does a sarcomere contract and lengthen to cause muscle contraction?
10. How is the condition rigor mortis related to muscle contraction?
a. After death actin and myosin shorten muscle fibers.
b. ATP is needed to release the myosin heads from the actin fibers and allow
muscles to relax, but ATP reserves are quickly depleted, causing muscles to
remain contracted.
c. It can take 10 minutes to hours to occur, with maximum stiffness 12-24 hours
after death.
d. Eventually tissue decays and lysosomal enzymes leak and cause muscles to relax.
11. How do nerves interact with muscles?
In order for muscles to contract (shorten and thicken), they must receive a
message from the CNS to do so. The messages come through efferent neurons
(nerves that move away from the CNS). Afferent neurons send messages back
from muscles to the CNS.
12. How can we assess muscle function?
Heart rate can help assess cardiac muscle function. Strength tests can help
assess function of voluntary muscles.
Lesson 4.3 Blood Flow Essential Questions
1. What types of muscle help move blood around the body?
Cardiac, smooth, and skeletal muscles.
2. What is the relationship between the heart and the lungs?
The blood that the heart pumps gets oxygenated in the lungs.
3. What is the pathway of blood in and out of the heart in pulmonary and systemic
circulation?
Unoxygenated blood enters the heart through the superior and inferior vena
cava and into the right atrium. The blood then goes through the tricuspid valve,
into the right ventricle where it then leaves the heart via the pulmonary valve
into the pulmonary artery which take the blood to the lungs to get oxygenated.
The oxygenated blood returns to the heart via the pulmonary veins and into the
left atrium. It goes through the mitral valve and into the left ventricle and then
through the aortic valve into the aorta where the blood is pumped throughout
the body.
4. How do the structure of arteries, veins and capillaries relate to their function in the
body?
Arteries
Funtion: move blood away from the heart.
Structure: they are more muscular tubes that can withstand large pressure.
Capillaries
Function: join the blood flow from the arterials (small arteries) to the venules
(small veins) where the exchange of nutrients and gases occur at the cellular
level.
Structure: capillaries are only one cell thick, allows for easy transport between
tissues and blood vessels.
Veins
Fucntion: move the blood back toward the heart..
Structure: they are larger in diameter and may contain valves to assist in moving
the blood back to the heart
5. What unique features of veins help move blood back to the heart?
They have valves that don’t allow blood to go back, so it can reach the heart.
6. What are varicose veins?
Varicose veins are twisted, enlarged veins near the surface of the skin. They are
caused by weakend valves and veins.
7. Why don’t we ever hear about varicose arteries?
Because arteries don’t have valves and they are covered by muscles that make
blood keep moving.
8. What are the major arteries and veins in the body and which regions do they serve?
Major arteries are aorta, coronary artery, and pulmonary artery. Major vessels
are the superior and inferior vena cava and pulmonary veins.
9. What is cardiac output?
It is the volume of blood the heart pumps per minute.
10. How does cardiac output help assess overall heart health?
It can show if your heart is pumping too much or too little blood, which can tell if
you have a faulty heart.
11. How does an increased or decreased cardiac output impact the body?
If a person’s cardiac output is lower than normal, the tissues can suffer or blood
pressure can become unhealthy. Increased cardiac output from exercise can
strengthen the heart.
12. What is blood pressure?
It is the measure of how fast blood is hitting the walls of the arteries.
13. How can the measurement of blood pressure in the legs be used to assess circulation?
It can be taken to measure how well blood is circulating to those limbs.
14. What is peripheral artery disease?
It is where blood vessels supplying the extremities do not work as well as they
should.
15. Why can smoking lead to peripheral artery disease?
It can damage the endothelium, which allows plaque to build up on the artery
walls.
Lesson 4.4 Energy and Motion: Exercise Physiology
1. What is the connection between power and movement in the body?
You need power to cause movement with your body.
2. How does the body maintain a supply of ATP during exercise?
Through cellular respiration, the body uses glucose to make ATP.
3. What body systems are involved with powering an athlete through a running race?
Skeletal, Muscular, Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Nervous.
4. What is muscle fatigue?
It is the decline in ability of a muscle to generate force.
5. How are we able to overcome muscle fatigue?
By having a good nutrition, being hydrated, and having endurance.
6. What are performance-enhancing drugs?
Performance-enhancing drugs (also known as PEDs) are substances used to
improve performance in situations like sports.
7. How do specific performance-enhancing drugs affect the human body?
o Increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture
o Liver abnormalities and tumors
o Increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the "bad" cholesterol)
o Decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol)
o High blood pressure (hypertension)
o Heart and circulatory problems
o Prostate gland enlargement
o Aggressive behaviors, rage or violence
o Psychiatric disorders, such as depression
o Drug dependence
o Infections or diseases such as HIV or hepatitis if you're injecting the drugs
o Inhibited growth and development, and risk of future health problems in
teenagers
8. Why should certain performance-enhancing drugs be banned from athletic
competition?
It gives players taking the drug an unfair advantage while the other players are
playing using their talents. The drug also makes users violent which could easily
get an unsuspecting player hurt.
9. What are areas to consider when designing a training plan for an athlete?
o Age
o Current or recent injuries
o Health problems
o Their dislikes and likes with regards training
o What sports facilities they have access to - gym, sports centre etc.