Mississippi Science HAP.4.2

ScienceGrades 9–12Human Anatomy and Physiology

The Standard

HAP.4: Students will investigate the structures and functions of the skeletal system including the cause and effect of diseases and disorders.

Develop and use models to identify and classify major bones as part of the appendicular or axial skeleton.

2026 Mississippi College- and Career-Readiness Standards for Science · Skeletal System

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students build or label a skeleton model to locate major bones. They sort the bones into the axial skeleton or the limbs and their attachments.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given an unlabeled skeleton, a student can locate and name major bones in the trunk, head, arms, and legs. They can classify each bone and explain why the hip bone is appendicular but the sacrum is axial.
Common Misconceptions: Students often place shoulder blades and hip bones in the axial skeleton because they sit near the trunk. They may group the sacrum with the hip bones instead of the spine.
How to Assess It: Give students a blank skeleton diagram. Ask them to label the skull, ribs, vertebrae, scapula, hip bone, humerus, and femur, then mark each A for axial or P for appendicular.

Lesson moves

Give pairs bone cutouts to assemble on paper, then have them color axial bones blue and appendicular bones red.
Ask why the hip bone is appendicular while the sacrum is axial, and have students point to both on a skeleton model.
Play a bone-sort relay with cards labeled sternum, vertebra, scapula, clavicle, humerus, femur, and hip bone.
Give students a sports injury report naming a broken clavicle and rib; have them locate and classify both on a skeleton diagram.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to HAP.4.2, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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