Histology of Compact and Cancellous Bone

Histology of Compact and Cancellous Bone

Rylee Ann Ertle

Advanced Biology, The Human Body

October 28th, 2016

Introduction:

        Bone tissue, according to The Free Dictionary: Medical Dictionary, is defined as “a hard form of connective tissue composed of osteocytes and a calcified collagenous intercellular substance arranged in thin plates.” This definition could be simplified into something like this. Bone tissue is the layers of hard connective tissue that the bone is made of. But this definition does not do any good unless connective tissue is also defined. Oxford Dictionary defines connective tissue as “tissue that connects, supports, binds, or separates other tissues or organs, typically having relatively few cells embedded in an amorphous matrix, often with collagen or other fibers, and including cartilaginous, fatty, and elastic tissues.” This just means connective tissue is tissue that connects things inside the body to other things inside the body. Therefore, the purpose of this experiment is to examine the details of different types of bone tissue under a microscope and record what is found.

Hypothesis:

If the different types of bone tissue are observed under a microscope, then the differences will be recognizable.

Materials:

• 1 microscope
• 1 prepared human red bone marrow slide
• 1 prepared human dried bone tissue

Procedure:

1. Plug in the microscope and turn the light on.
2. Take the human red bone marrow slide and place the slide under the lens.
3. Look through the lens at a 40x power and focus in on the organism, noting the colors, shapes, textures, and anything else seen.
4. Complete step 3 once more at a 100x magnification, this time drawing what is seen and taking care to label anything that has been identified or take a picture through the lens with a smartphone or another device with a camera.  
5. Put the slide away.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 once more with the human dried bone tissue slide, taking note of any differences seen between the two.
7. Put away any materials used and make sure the mess is cleaned up properly.  

Results:

[pic 1][pic 2]        The Human Dried Bone Tissue (left), otherwise known as compact bone, appears to have many different circle organisms that are all compacted together very tightly. Each organism appears to have one large spot in the middle; Many other dots or lines, as well as a stringy substance, are also found encasing the large spot found in the middle.  The Human Red Bone Marrow (right), otherwise known as cancellous bone, appears to be spongy and encased in what could possibly be a muscle. Both slides were observed at a 40x magnification but observed and recorded at 100x magnification. [pic 3]

Discussion:

1. “What do your results indicate?”

In the Human Dried Bone Tissue, the entire circle is called an osteon and the smaller spots are osteocytes while the large spot is called the osteonic canal in which the blood vessels and nerves are placed. The bone forms around the osteonic canal, creating the circle pattern that is seen, and protects the blood vessels and nerves. The Human Red Bone Marrow appears spongy because it is. Bone marrow is a soft fatty tissue present inside the bones of skull, shoulder blade, pelvis and spine. Bone marrow consists of hematopoietic cells and fat cells which help in producing new cells. It helps in production of the red blood cells and white blood cells and platelets. The function of these cells is to carry oxygen, help the body fight infections.