YEAR 12 SPORT STUDENTS CONSTRUCT SYNOVIAL JOINT MODELS 

Mrs Southgate, joint Lead Teacher of PE at Richmond, provides the following about a hands-on practical activity carried out by her students recently: 

“Year 12 CTEC Sport and Physical Activity students had their creativity skills put to the test in a recent Independent Learning task. The current focus in the Anatomy and Physiology unit is the skeletal system. We have been learning about the structure of synovial joints, and the students were challenged to make their own joint.  

They had to consider the properties and functions of each structure and needed to select appropriate materials. The students embraced the challenge and produced some really impressive creations. They brought the models they had made to their lesson and gave a short presentation which explained and justified why they had selected each material. We then put the joints to the test – could their creations move repeatedly and cope with forces without becoming dislocated? Could they absorb the shock of impact without damage to the bone ends? Hopefully, the pictures here show that many of the homemade synovial joints survived the testing process – although some went through a more rigorous testing process than others! A top effort by all, well done!” 

One of the models, made by Katie Coburn, was so impressive, Mrs Southgate nominated Katie for the weekly Head Teacher’s CREDIT Values Award. This is her nomination: 

“The Y12 CTEC Sport students were set an Independent Learning task which required them to construct a human synovial joint which met certain functional requirements. The group embraced the task whole-heartedly, but Katie went above and beyond with her attention to detail and demonstrated fantastic creativity and independence with this task. She presented her joint to the rest of the group, justifying why she used certain materials for each feature. Katie and a classmate put the joint through various tests to check its functional requirements, and it seemed to come through unscathed! A truly excellent effort, well done Katie!”