Made By: Andrea Lopez and Stephanie Malavé Muscular System: Made By: Andrea Lopez and Stephanie Malavé

Functions of the Muscular System: Movement is an important function of the muscular system. Muscles are important for protection, stability, and maintaining body temperature. Muscle tissues are made of cells that contract. A muscle is made of strong tissue that can contract in an orderly way.

Movement: Many of your muscles are attached to your bones and enable your skeleton to move. Bones move when these muscles contract. This movement can be fast, such as when you run, or slow, like when you stretch. The contraction in the muscles cause blood and food to move throughout your body. They also cause your heart to beat and the hair on your arms to stand on end when you get goose bumps.

Stability: Muscles that are attached to bones to support your body and help you balance. If you lose balance like when you trip and lose your balance, your muscles pull in different directions and you regain your balance. Tendons attach muscles to bones. Tendons work with muscles and keep joints in place when your body moves. Tendons also help hold your body in proper posture, or shape.

Protection: Muscles protect your body. Muscle cover most of your skeleton. Muscles cover most of the organs inside your body. They surround your abdomen, chest, and back and protect your internal organs.

Temperature Regulation: Shivering is when muscles contract rapidly and change chemical energy to thermal energy. The thermal energy helps raise your body’s temperature. It is important because a humans body must stay around 37 degrees Celsius in order to work properly. Muscles also change chemical energy to thermal energy during exercise. That is why you feel warm after physical activity.

Types of Muscles are: Cardiac- Smooth- Skeletal-

Skeletal Muscle: Skeletal muscle is a type of muscle that attaches to the bones. Voluntary muscles are the ones that you can consciously move. The contractions of skeletal muscles can be quick and powerful, such as when you run fast. The contracting of these muscles for long periods of time can exhaust or cramp them. Skeletal muscles work by pulling on bones. Your skeletal muscles change through your lifetime. If you exercise, your muscle cells increase in size and the entire muscle becomes larger and stronger.

Cardiac Muscle: Cardiac muscle are found in the heart. A cardiac muscle is a type of involuntary muscle that is a muscle that you cannot consciously control. When cardiac muscles contract and relax, they pump blood through your heart and through your vessels throughout your body. Cardiac muscles have branches with discs at the ends. The discs send signals to other cardiac cells and they all contract nearly at the same time.

Smooth Muscle: Blood vessels and many organs such as the stomach are lined with smooth muscles. Smooth muscles are involuntary muscles named for their smooth appearance. Contraction of smooth muscles helps move material through the body, such as food in the stomach, and controls the movement of blood through vessels.

Healthy Muscles: Your muscles benefit from a healthy diet, too. All muscles require energy to contract. This energy comes from the food you eat. Eating a diet full of nutrients such as protein, fiber, and potassium can help keep muscles strong. Exercising can also help keep muscles healthy. Muscle cells decrease in size and strength without exercise. Decreased muscle strength can increase the risk of heart disease and bone injuries. It can also make joints less stable.

The Muscular System and Homeostasis: Some ways that muscular system helps your body to maintain homeostasis is by: Maintaining your body temperature around 37 degrees Celsius to function well. When you exercise, your cells need more oxygen and release more waste, such as carbon dioxide. The cardiac muscles of your heart help maintain homeostasis by contracting more often. When it contract faster, the heart pumps more blood, and more oxygen is carried to the cells.

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Reference: Science book: www.connected.mc-grawhill.com