Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Physical Education (1PE0) · Spec C1 1.1.1, C1 1.1.2, C1 1.1.4 and C1 1.1.5
The skeleton and joints
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- The skeleton has five jobs: protection, movement (levers), muscle attachment, mineral storage and making blood cells.
- Bones come in four types: long (humerus, femur), short (carpals, tarsals), flat (cranium, sternum, ribs) and irregular (vertebrae).
- A hinge joint (elbow, knee) allows flexion and extension only. A ball and socket joint (shoulder, hip) allows movement in every direction. A pivot joint (neck) allows rotation. A condyloid joint (wrist) allows movement in two directions but no rotation.
- Flexion decreases the angle at a joint. Extension increases it. Abduction moves a limb away from the midline. Adduction moves it towards the midline.
Key terms
- Ligament
- Joins bone to bone and keeps a joint stable.
- Flexion
- A movement that decreases the angle at a joint.
- Extension
- A movement that increases the angle at a joint.
- Hinge joint
- A joint that moves like a door, in one direction only. The elbow and the knee are examples.
- Ball and socket joint
- A joint that allows the widest range of movement. The shoulder and the hip are examples.
- Flat bone
- A bone that protects organs and gives a broad surface for muscles, such as the cranium.
Common mistakes
- Giving the type of a bone (long) when the question asks for its name (humerus), or the other way round.
- Mixing up carpals (wrist), metacarpals (palm) and phalanges (fingers and toes).
- Saying a ligament joins muscle to bone. That is a tendon. A ligament joins bone to bone.
Exam tip
'State' and 'identify' need one word or fact, so name the bone, joint or movement and stop. If a question shows a photo of a performer, name the joint and then the movement (for example, 'flexion at the knee').
Free practice questions
7 questions, 13 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
A hockey goalkeeper's ribs shield her lungs from a hard ball. Which skeletal function is this?
- Question 2 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
What do ligaments join together?
- Question 3 · Fill the gaps[1 mark]
The thin bone beside the tibia is the ___.
Word bank: femur · ulna · radius · fibula
- Question 4 · Matching[4 marks]
Match each bone to its type.
- Question 5 · Matching[4 marks]
Match each joint type to an example.
- Question 6 · True or false[1 mark]
True or false: A pivot joint allows rotation.
- Question 7 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which movement increases the angle between two bones at a joint?