Synthetic Body Joint Design Plan

During our discussion of the information in chapter 37 of our text, we learned

about the organization of the body, different types of tissues, and some
introductory thoughts on the skeletal and muscular systems. In order to
show me your understanding of the topics, you are going to design a
synthetic, or man-made, joint modeled after a joint of the body.

You will be able to choose which joint you wish to model, however I ask that
it is a freely moveable joint, and not an immovable or slightly movable joint
(they will be more interesting- I promise!!).

Project goal: Design (not actually create) a synthetic joint from man-made
or plant-based materials. (Your challenge is to create a joint as if you had no
materials that would make a normal, natural joint.) You will produce a visual
drawing or picture and a written explanation.

Parts that must be described and designed:

• Bones
• Muscles
• Tendons
• Ligaments
• Cartilage
• Blood vessels

Things to include in the written explanation:

• What joint will you model?
o What type of freely movable joint is it (p. 854 in your text)?
o What type of movement does it allow?
• What materials will you use?
• What are the characteristics of those materials? (Stretchy, rigid, soft,
hard…)
• Why are those materials good replacements for the real thing?
• What are the possible weaknesses of the material you chose in being a
part of the joint?
• If you had to test how well your synthetic joint compared to the real
thing, what would that experiment look like? Describe how you would
follow the scientific method for the experiment, including:
o State the question (What relationship are you going to test? This
will probably relate to the specific movement of your joint, for
example, will the synthetic joint be able to help the muscles
move the same amount of weight, or same distance)
o Identify the independent (experimental) variable and the
dependent (measurable) variable
 o Write your hypothesis using our standard format:
o If (independent variable) affects (dependent variable), then
(experiment and reasonable prediction) because (reason why
you think your prediction will come true based on facts or
research)
o Explain your experiment step by step so that we could try to do it
if we wanted to. Make sure to include which group is the control
group and which is the experimental group.
o You do not have to explain the last few steps because you
will not be performing the experiment. Just tell me what
the experiment would look like.

Formatting:
For the visual part, you may use any method of a 2-D (on paper) method
of showing me your design. Please limit this to a regular (8.5x11) piece of
paper. I will not assess on your artistic abilities, only that you have
included all the parts.

For the written explanation, you should aim to answer all the questions
completely, but do not feel like you have to write to fill space. I would
expect that you could do this in two (2) pages double-spaced, but as
long as you include all the information, you can go a little more or less. I
would prefer 12 pt. font, and fonts like Arial or Times New Roman are
best.

The following rubric describes what you will be graded on for this
assignment. Please use it as a guide as you develop your project!!