Support and movement

Our musculoskeletal system supports and protects our body as well as making it possible for us to move about. Plants have a kind of skeletal system, too – a framework of tough fibres that support the whole plant and also form part of the plant’s transport network.

Experiments

• Observing earthworm locomotion
  Collect earthworms and observe how they move on different surfaces. Listen to the worms moving on paper.
• Structure of synovial joint with tendons and ligaments
  Dissect a pig’s trotter to explore the structures around a synovial joint.
• Extracting fibres from plants
  Extract fibres from plant material. Assess their strength and stiffness. Consider commercial usefulness of fibres from plants.