1. Chapter 2
Lesson 3
Moving our Bones!
In this lesson, we will learn how
muscles move our bones!
Created by Mr. Stephen Wentz
Council Rock School District

2. Question?
• What moves our bones?
• Do they move on their own, or does something move
them?

3. How do our bones move?
• Bones don’t move on their own, muscles pull on the bones
to move them!
• Everyone stand up where you are…
• Straighten your arms…
• Now curl them up…
• What do you feel happening?

4. How do our bones move?
• Muscles- stretchy structures in the body that have the
special ability to contract, or shorten.
- Muscles can only pull, not push.
- They pull on our bones to make them move.
- A human has about 630 muscles!!!
- Muscles are attached to our bones by tendons.
• Tendons- rope-like structures that attach muscles to
bones…tendons are not stretchy like ligaments.

5. How do our bones move?
• Since muscles can only pull, when they stop pulling they
relax and get longer and thinner.
• When one muscle pulls in one direction, another muscle is
used to pull it back in the other direction.
• Antagonist Muscles- pairs of muscles that work against
each other, but in a good way. They work together to move
our limbs.
When the triceps
contract, your
lower arm goes
back down.
When the biceps
contract, your
lower arm goes
up.

6. Muscle Injuries
• Most everyone will, or has, injured a muscle.
• Ex:
• 1. Sprain- happens when a ligament is stretched too far.
Sometimes ligaments can rip or tear too.
• 2. Strain- when a muscle or tendon is stretched too much
or torn.
• 3. Tendonitis- occurs when you “over do” an activity, or
repeat it again and again.

7. What to do for muscle injuries
• The initials RICE can help you remember how to treat
these injuries…
• Rest
• Ice
• Compression
• Elevation
Stay off the injury as much as possible.
Ice the injury for 20 minutes at a time for the first
2-3 days.
Put pressure/bandage wrap on the
injury so it’s snug and will prevent you
from stressing it again.
Keep the injured body part elevated, or raised, to
prevent too much blood flowing to it. This will limit
swelling!

8. Cool Muscle Facts!!
• It takes 72 muscles in your face, mouth, jaw and tongue to
say a word!
• It takes 200 muscles in your legs, buttocks, feet and back
to take a single step!
• Erasistratus, was a Greek doctor and teacher who lived
more than 2,000 years ago. He was the first to write about
muscles moving bones. However, he thought that spirits
flowed through the body to cause this to happen!