Human skeleton model for a school project: how to make it, step by step

A model of the human skeleton is one of the most common school projects in South Africa, most often in Grade 5 Natural Sciences and Technology, where learners study animal skeletons and skeletons as structures. The task is usually the same: make a model, name the main bones, and explain what the skeleton does for the body.

This guide covers what the skeleton does, the main bones with a labelled diagram, how to build the Slotbok skeleton model in eleven steps, how joints and muscles move it, and how to make one from cardboard instead if your teacher asks for that.

Watch the whole build first

The 3D animation that comes with the Slotbok kit: every part going on in order, in under two minutes. Watch it once before you open the box.

What does the skeleton do?

An adult skeleton has 206 bones, and together they do three main jobs. These are the three a skeleton project usually asks you to explain:

• Support — the skeleton holds the body up and gives it its shape.
• Protection — hard bones guard the soft organs: the skull protects the brain, and the rib cage protects the heart and lungs.
• Movement — muscles are fixed to the bones, and where two bones meet at a joint, the muscles pull on them to move the body.

Bones also store minerals such as calcium, and the soft marrow inside some bones makes new blood cells. That is worth a sentence if your project asks for more than the three main jobs.

The main bones, labelled

Every part of the Slotbok model is engraved with its bone name, so the model doubles as a labelled diagram. From the top:

• Skull (cranium and face) — protects the brain and holds the eyes, nose and teeth.
• Cervical vertebrae — the neck bones, which let the head nod and turn.
• Clavicle — the collarbone, running from the top of the breastbone out to the shoulder.
• Scapula — the shoulder blade, at the back of each shoulder.
• Sternum — the breastbone, down the middle of the chest.
• Ribs — 12 pairs, curving round from the spine to make the rib cage.
• Humerus — the upper arm bone.
• Radius and ulna — the two bones of the forearm.
• Hand bones — the carpals in the wrist, the metacarpals in the palm and the phalanges in the fingers.
• Lumbar vertebrae — the lower back, which carries most of the weight of the upper body.
• Pelvis — the hip bones, which join the spine to the legs.
• Femur — the thigh bone, the longest and strongest bone in the body.
• Patella — the kneecap, which protects the front of the knee.
• Tibia and fibula — the two bones of the shin.
• Tarsals — the bones of the ankle and the back of the foot.

The backbone, or spine, is a column of small bones called vertebrae: 7 in the neck, 12 in the chest and 5 in the lower back, with the sacrum and the coccyx at the bottom. On the model, the neck vertebrae C4 to C6 and the lower-back vertebrae L1 to L5 are separate engraved pieces, so you can point to them.

What is in the kit

The Slotbok human skeleton model kit is cut by laser from 3 mm MDF. Built, it stands 383 mm tall on its display stand, on a base 129 × 140 mm:

• 74 laser-cut parts on three 300 × 200 mm MDF sheets, including 6 spares
• Sheet 1: the spine, 12 ribs, the sternum and the vertebrae
• Sheet 2: the skull, the arms and hands, the pelvis and the pegs
• Sheet 3: the legs, the feet and the display stand

Every part is engraved with its name, and everything slots together: no glue and no cutting. The shoulders and elbows pivot on pegs, so the arms can be posed.

How to make the skeleton model, step by step

The build follows the kit's 3D animation, in eleven steps. Before you start, press all the parts out of the three sheets and keep them in their sheet groups, so each engraved name is quick to find.

1. Build the display stand

Lay the base on the table, slide the brace onto the post, then push the post into the base.

2. Hang the spine on the stand

Lower the spine onto the top of the post. Everything else hangs on the spine, so check that it sits straight before you go on.

3. Neck and upper ribs

Slide the neck vertebrae C6, C5 and C4 onto the neck, then slide ribs R1 to R6 onto the spine from the front.

4. Lower ribs

Slide ribs R7 to R10 onto the spine. The floating ribs, R11 and R12, go on last.

5. Collar bones and breastbone

Slide the clavicles on above rib R1, then press the sternum onto its 8 tabs.

6. Lower back and pelvis

Slide the lumbar vertebrae L1 to L5 onto the spine and slide on the pelvic brim, then press the pelvis onto its 2 tabs.

7. Face and skull

Slide the face down onto the skull, then slide the crown down behind it.

8. Skull cap

Press the cap ribs 1L, 1R, 2L and 2R into their slots, and add the temporal bones at the sides of the head.

9. Build the legs

Fit the femur and tibia side pieces into each leg, add the kneecap with its peg, then push the foot onto the ankle tabs.

10. Attach the legs

Slide each leg in behind its hip socket, push 2 pegs through each hip, and press on the hip caps.

11. Shoulder blades and arms

Slide each scapula onto the end of its clavicle. At the shoulder, fit the humerus with a peg and a cap; at the elbow, fit the forearm with a peg and a cap.

Done: pose the arms

The shoulders and elbows move, so you can pose the arms: hanging down, waving, or bent at the elbow. The finished skeleton is 383 mm tall on its display stand.

How the skeleton moves: joints and muscles

A joint is a place where two bones meet. On the model the shoulders and elbows turn on pegs; in your body they are two different kinds of joint:

• Ball-and-socket joint — the shoulder and the hip. The round end of one bone turns in a cup in the other, so the arm or leg can move in almost any direction.
• Hinge joint — the elbow and the knee. They bend one way only, like a door on its hinges.

Bones cannot move on their own. Muscles are joined to them by tendons, and a muscle can only pull, never push, so muscles work in pairs. Bend your arm and the biceps at the front of the upper arm pulls the forearm up; straighten it and the triceps at the back pulls it down again.

Some joints hardly move at all. The bones of the skull, for example, are locked together to make a hard case for the brain.

The skeleton as a structure

In Grade 5 the skeleton is also studied as a structure: something that keeps its shape and carries a load. A skeleton is a frame structure, like the frame of a building, a cell phone tower or a mine headgear: strong parts joined together, with spaces in between.

• The spine is a column that carries the weight of the head and the upper body down to the hips.
• The rib cage is a cage of curved bones that protects the heart and lungs but still moves as you breathe.
• The legs carry the weight of the whole body down to the feet.

A real skeleton cannot stand up on its own either: the muscles hold the bones in place. On the model, the display stand and its post do that job, which is a good point to make in your write-up.

Vertebrates and other skeletons

Animals with a backbone are called vertebrates: fish, frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals, including people. Their skeleton is on the inside, an endoskeleton, and every one of them has a skull and a backbone. Many animals without a backbone, such as insects, spiders and crabs, have a hard exoskeleton on the outside instead.

If your project is about an animal skeleton, compare it with the human model: find the skull, the spine, the ribs and the leg bones, and look at how their shapes suit the way the animal moves.

Making a skeleton model from scratch instead

If your teacher asks for a model made from household materials, these are the usual choices:

• Thick cardboard or cereal boxes for the skull, the rib cage and the pelvis
• Drinking straws, ear buds or pipe cleaners for the arm and leg bones
• String or split pins at the joints, so the arms and legs can move
• Glue, scissors and a printed picture of a skeleton to trace from
• Black card behind the model, so the pale bones stand out

Whatever you use, keep the bones in proportion: the thigh bone is the longest, the spine runs all the way from the skull to the pelvis, and the rib cage is wider than it is deep.

What to write down for your project

• The name of each main bone and where it is, using the labelled diagram above.
• The three jobs of the skeleton, with an example of each: support (the spine), protection (the skull and the rib cage) and movement (the joints).
• Which joints on your model move, what kind of joints they are in a real body, and how the muscles move them.
• How your model is like a frame structure, and what holds it up.
• The materials you used, why you chose them, and what you would change if you made it again.
• A labelled drawing of your finished model.

Worth saying plainly: copying someone else's answers is the one way to lose marks you had already earned. Everything here is so you can explain your own model in your own words.

Frequently asked questions

How do you make a skeleton model for a school project?

Start from the middle and work outwards: the spine first, then the neck and the rib cage, the collarbones and the breastbone, the pelvis, the skull, and last the legs and arms. With the Slotbok kit the parts are engraved with their names and slot together in eleven steps, with no glue. From scratch, cardboard, straws and string do the same job.

How many bones are in the human body?

An adult has 206 bones. A newborn baby has about 300, but many of them join together as the child grows.

What are the three main functions of the skeleton?

Support, protection and movement. The skeleton holds the body up and gives it its shape, it protects soft organs such as the brain, the heart and the lungs, and it works with the muscles to move the body at the joints.

Which bones protect the brain, the heart and the lungs?

The skull protects the brain. The rib cage, made of the ribs, the sternum at the front and the spine at the back, protects the heart and the lungs.

What is the longest bone in the body?

The femur, or thigh bone. It is also the strongest.

Where can I buy a skeleton model for a school project in South Africa?

The Slotbok human skeleton model kit is cut in our workshop in Gauteng and delivered across South Africa: 74 laser-cut parts that slot together into a 383 mm skeleton on its own stand.

Afrikaans terme

If you are doing this project in Afrikaans: Natuurwetenskappe en Tegnologie (Natural Sciences and Technology) · skoolprojek (school project) · geraamte (skeleton) · werweldiere (vertebrates) · skedel (skull) · ruggraat (spine) · werwels (vertebrae) · ribbekas (rib cage) · borsbeen (sternum) · sleutelbeen (collarbone) · skouerblad (shoulder blade) · bekken (pelvis) · dybeen (thigh bone) · knieskyf (kneecap) · gewrig (joint) · spiere (muscles).

Get the kit

The kit is cut in our own workshop in Gauteng, and every design is built once by hand before it is packed, so the slots and tabs are known to fit.

• Human Skeleton Model Kit for School Projects
• All school project kits

Other build guides, for frame structures like the skeleton: cell phone tower kit, Grade 7 · mine headgear kit, Grade 8 · bridge kit, Grade 9.

Questions about a kit, a class set or delivery to your town: message us on WhatsApp.