CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:40).
Sections below are the following:
Transcript of Audio
Audio Notes and Acknowledgments
Images
Extra Information
Sources
Related Water Radio Episodes
For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.).
Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 9-15-21.
TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO
From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is
Virginia Water Radio for the week of September 20, 2021. This revised episode from October 2015 is
part of a series this fall of episodes on water connections to the human body
and human biology.
MUSIC – 16 sec – Instrumental
That’s part of “Halloween,” by John McCutcheon on his 1998
album “Autumnsongs.” In this first week
of autumn, with Halloween merchandise already in stores and on some people’s
minds, that organ music sets the stage for exploring a vital human organ system that’s also one of
Halloween’s most familiar spectres. Have
a listen for about 15 second to some mystery
sounds, and see if you can guess that organ system. And here’s a
hint: we couldn’t move at all, much less rattle around, without this
remarkable framework.
SOUNDS - 13 sec
If you guessed the skeleton or skeletal system, you’re right! The rattling you heard was from a plastic Halloween skeleton, accompanied by some creepy laughter from a talking skull decoration. Since ancient times, human skeletons have been used in art, literature, and culture as symbols of danger, death, and dryness. In fact, the word “skeleton” comes from Latin and Greek words meaning “dried up.” But there’s nothing dead nor dry about a functioning human skeleton. Our 206 bones contain active cells and tissues that continually take in and release calcium and phosphorus while producing new bone, blood, and fat cells.
Bone is about 25 to 30 percent water by weight, with the rest consisting of minerals plus connective protein fibers called collagen. Water is the main component of cartilage, the relatively flexible tissue in our nose and ears and between bones, including in the disks between the vertebrae in our spine. In those spinal disks, cartilage fibers enclose a watery core, and this water’s resistance to being compressed helps vertebrae move while not being pushed together.
Ligaments and tendons join bone and cartilage in the
complex, multi-purpose skeletal system. Aided by water, the skeleton
supports the body; protects internal organs; produces cells; and provides
levers, pivot points, and cushions to the forces acting on and within the
body. All that, and it’s also a classic Halloween image!
Thanks to John McCutcheon and Appalseed Productions for permission to use this
week’s music, and we get the jump on the season of scary skeletons with about
25 more seconds of “Halloween.”
MUSIC – 28 sec – Lyrics: “For just one night, I’m allowed to
fantasize. Halloween, here we go.”
SHIP’S BELL
Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624. Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.
AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaces
Episode 287, 10-26-15.
“Halloween,” from the 1998 album “Four Seasons: Autumnsongs”
on Rounder Records, is copyright by John McCutcheon/Appalsongs and Si Kahn/Joe
Hill Music, used with permission of John McCutcheon. More information about John McCutcheon is
available online at http://www.folkmusic.com/. Thanks to Erin Grace Deedy of Appalseed
Productions for her help in acquiring permission to use this music. More information about Appalseed Productions
is available online at https://appalseed-productions-2.square.site/.
Click
here if you’d like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the
“Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this
episode. More information about Mr.
Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com.
IMAGES
EXTRA INFORMATION ABOUT THE HUMAN SKELETON
The following information is quoted from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, SEER Training Module, “Skeletal System/Introduction” online at https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/skeletal/.
“Humans are vertebrates, animals having a vertebral column
or backbone. They rely on a sturdy internal
frame that is centered on a prominent spine. The human skeletal system consists of bones, cartilage,
ligaments and tendons and accounts for about 20 percent of the body weight.
“The living bones in our bodies use oxygen and give off waste products in metabolism. They contain active tissues that consume nutrients, require a blood supply, and change shape or remodel in response to variations in mechanical stress.
“Bones provide a rigid framework, known as the skeleton, that
supports and protects the soft organs of the body.
“The skeleton supports the body against the pull of gravity. The large bones of the lower limbs support the trunk when standing.
“The skeleton also protects the soft body parts. The fused bones of the cranium surround the brain
to make it less vulnerable to injury. Vertebrae
surround and protect the spinal cord and bones of the rib cage help protect the
heart and lungs of the thorax.
“Bones work together with muscles as simple mechanical lever systems to produce body movement.
“Bones contain more calcium than any other organ. The intercellular matrix of bone contains
large amounts of calcium salts, the most important being calcium phosphate.
“When blood calcium levels decrease below normal, calcium is released from the bones so that there will be an adequate supply for metabolic needs. When blood calcium levels are increased, the excess calcium is stored in the bone matrix. The dynamic process of releasing and storing calcium goes on almost continuously.
“Hematopoiesis, the formation of blood cells, mostly takes
place in the red marrow of the bones.
“In infants, red marrow is found in the bone cavities. With age, it is largely replaced by yellow marrow for fat storage. In adults, red marrow is limited to the spongy bone in the skull, ribs, sternum, clavicles, vertebrae and pelvis. Red marrow functions in the formation of red blood cells, white blood cells and blood platelets.
SOURCES
Used for Audio
Joseph Hammill and Kathleen M. Knutzen, Biomechanical
Basis of Human Movement—Third Edition, Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams
& Wilkins, Baltimore, Md., and Philadelphia, Penn., 2009.
Harry N. Herkowitz et al., The Spine—Fourth Edition (Vol. I), W. B.
Saunders Company, Philadelphia, Penn., 1999.
W. Henry Hollinshead and Cornelius Rosse, Textbook of Anatomy—Fourth Edition,
Harper and Row Publishers, Inc., 1985.
Evelyn Kelly, The Skeletal System, Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 2004.
Lakeland Community College, “The Skull and Skeleton in Art: Folk Art to Pop Culture,” https://www.facebook.com/events/1633218576961435/.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Skeleton,” online at https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skeleton.
National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, SEER Training Module, “Skeletal System,” online at https://training.seer.cancer.gov/anatomy/skeletal/.
Icy Sedgwick, “Skeleton Folklore,” published by Folklore
Thursday, October 26, 2017, online at https://folklorethursday.com/halloween/i-can-feel-it-in-my-bones-skeletons-in-folklore/.
Walt Disney Animation Studies, “The Skeleton Dance,” 1929, online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOGhAV-84iI&t=27s.
For More Information about Water and the Human Body
Mayo Clinic Health System, “Water: Essential to your body,” online at https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/water-essential-to-your-body.
U.S. Geological Survey, “The Water in You: Water and the Human Body,” https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.
RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES
All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). See particularly the “Science” subject category.
Following are links to other
episodes on connections of water to human biology. Please note that some of these episodes are being redone in fall 2021;
in those cases, the respective links below will have information on the updated
episodes.
Episode 195, 1-6-14 – Water thermodynamics.
Episode 393, 11-6-17 – Disease:
Influenza.
Episode 466, 4-1-19 – Water intake
and sports.
Episode 517, 3-23-20 and Episode 519, 4-6-20 – Disease:
Water connections to COVID-19.
Episode
592, 8-30-21 – Overview of water’s roles in the body.
Episode 593, 9-6-21 – Circulatory
system connections to water.
Episode 594, 9-13-21 – Neurological
system connections to water.
FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION
Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode’s audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post.
2020 Music SOLs
SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.”
2018 Science SOLs
Grades K-3 plus 5: Matter
K.4 – Water is important in our daily lives and has
properties.
Grades K-4: Living
Systems and Processes
1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that
allow them to survive.
Grade 6
6.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in
the natural and human-made environment.
Life Science
LS.3 – There are
levels of structural organization in living things.
LS.7 – Adaptations support an organism’s survival in an
ecosystem.
Physical Science
PS.8 – Work, force, and motion are related.
Biology
BIO.2 – Chemical and biochemical processes are essential for
life.
BIO.3 – Cells have structure and function.
Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department
of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.
Following are links to Water Radio episodes (various topics) designed especially for certain K-12 grade levels.
Episode 250, 1-26-15 – on boiling, for kindergarten through 3rd
grade.
Episode
255, 3-2-15 – on density, for 5th and 6th grade.
Episode 282, 9-21-15 – on living vs. non-living, for
kindergarten.
Episode 309, 3-28-16 – on temperature regulation in animals, for
kindergarten through 12th grade.
Episode 333, 9-12-16 – on dissolved gases, especially dissolved
oxygen in aquatic habitats, for 5th grade.
Episode 403, 1-15-18 – on freezing and ice, for kindergarten
through 3rd grade.
Episode 404, 1-22-18 – on ice on ponds and lakes, for 4th
through 8th grade.
Episode 406, 2-5-18 – on ice on rivers, for middle school.
Episode 407, 2-12-18 – on snow chemistry and physics, for high
school.
Episode 483, 7-29-19 – on buoyancy and drag, for middle school
and high school.
Episode 524, 5-11-20 – on sounds by water-related animals, for
elementary school through high school.
Episode 531, 6-29-20 – on various ways that animals get water,
for 3rd and 4th grade.
Episode 539, 8-24-20 –
on basic numbers and facts about Virginia’s water resources, for 4th and 6th
grade.