Rubber Bones-Science Fair

What happens to your bones when you don't get the proper nutrition? Well, they may become as soft as rubber as demonstrated by B's science experiment. In his Science Fair experiment he did some research on nutrition. Then he found an procedure to soften chicken bones. In the experiment he had to place a bone in a jar and cover it in vinegar. Next it was just a waiting game. Everyday he left the bone in the vinegar it got bendier. The calcium was slowly broken down. After about 2.5 weeks  he was able to bend the bone like a piece of rubber.

What is nutrition and why is it important?

It is how our bodies use the food that we eat. It is like the building blocks of our bodies. If we don’t get the right nutrients our bodies need they will get sick, and our bones can get week.

How do we get the right nutrients?

The Canadian Food Guide is one way to help you figure out what you need to eat, and how much.  It depends on your age and gender on what you should eat, but the most important food group we can consume is the fruit and vegetable. They can give us the widest variety of minerals and vitamins our bodies need to function properly.  

For example:

If you are a 35 year old woman you should aim to have:

• 7-8 vegetables and fruit
• 6-7 grain products
• 2 milk and alternatives
• 2 meat and alternatives
• 30 - 45 mL (2 to 3 Tbsp) of unsaturated oils and fats

Malnutrition

When our bodies don’t get the right balance of minerals and vitamins we can get sick and our bones can get weak. Just because we have enough food to eat doesn’t mean we are nourished. If we have weak bones they can break easily. If we fall down the chances of breaking a bone is greater if we are malnourished.  Malnourishment can come from eating the wrong foods, and the wrong amounts of food. 

Rubber Bones

In order to show what can happen to our bones if we done take care of them by eating the proper foods I have done an experiment that breaks down the calcium in bone.  

Procedure:

I placed a chicken bone in jar and poured enough vinegar in the jar to cover the bone.

Observation: 

After a few days the ends of the bone started to soften. After a few more days the entire bone was soft enough to bend.

Conclusion:

I learned that we need to be careful of the foods we put in our bodies, so we can keep them healthy and strong.