- Organ Name: Bone
- Organ Location: Throughout the body
- Organ System: Support movement
- Organ Purpose: Support the body, movement, protection and produce blood cells
- Organ Weight: About 15% of body weight
- Organ Count: At birth 270, by adulthood 206
22 Bone Facts for Kids
- Bones are rigid organs that make up the human body’s skeletal system.
- Bones help protect many vital organs, enable movement, produce both red and white blood cells and support the shape and structure of the human body.
- Bones are made up of living tissue that are continuously grow and regenerate.
- The human body has 270 bones at birth, but this number decreases to 206 by adulthood.
- More than half of all the bones in the human body are in the hands and feet.
- The largest bone in the human body is the femur, also known as the thigh bone.
- The smallest bone in the human body is stirrup, also known as the stapes.
- An adult human skull contains 22 bones, 8 cranial and 14 facial bones.
- An adult human has 24 rib bones, 12 on the left side and 12 on the right side.
- An adult human hand contains 27 bones.
- An adult human foot contains 26 bones.
- Bones contain a semi-solid tissue called bone marrow.
- Bone marrow is where platelets, red and white blood cells are produced.
- Every minute around 120 million red blood cells are created by bone marrow.
- Joints are locations in the human body where two or more bones are linked together.
- An example of a joint in your body is your elbow, which links the upper and lower parts of the arm together.
- The largest joint in the human body is the knee.
- The smallest join in the human body is the incudostapedial joint.
- The most fragile bones in the human body are toe bones.
- The funny bone isn’t a bone, when you hit your elbow a certain way, you’re triggering the ulnar nerve.
- Osteoporosis is a common bone disease that is caused by low bone density and bone loss.
- The scientific study of bones is called osteology and someone who studies osteology is called an osteologist.
Human Bone Pictures
A picture of human hand bones in an x-ray.Credit: istockphoto
A picture of human foot bones in an x-ray.Credit: istockphoto
A picture of human skull bones in an x-ray.Credit: istockphoto
Additional Resources on the Human Bones
- The Anatomy of a Human Bone – View the anatomy of a human bone on the Arizona State Univeristy website.
- List of Human Bones – View a list of all the bones in the human body on the Wikipedia website.
- Bone Disorders – Learn about the different types of diseases and disorders that can affect human bones.
- Bone – Britannica – Discover more awesome facts about bones on the Britannica website.
