PRACTICAL Name:

24 The ribs and intercostal muscles

You need:
■ wooden or plastic strips, with ■ nuts and bolts
holes drilled in them (items from ■ elastic bands
basic construction kits are ideal) ■ matchsticks

1 Wooden or plastic strips used to

build part of the rib cage

Piece representing spine

Pieces representing ribs

Piece representing sternum (breast bone)

The demonstration needs two students to work in a pair

The first student holds the ‘breast bone’ and ‘spine’ firmly
The second student fits the ‘external intercostals muscles’ between
the ribs.
2 Matchsticks and elastic bands are
used to represent the intercostals
muscles and their attachments to the
ribs

The first student allows ‘breast bone’ and ‘ribs’ to move when the
‘external intercostal muscles’ contract

3 Ribs move upwards and outwards

Questions
a Explain how these movements of the ribs cause air to be inhaled.
b As well as the external internal muscles, there is a set of internal
intercostals muscles. What is the function of this set of muscles?

Extension
What type of tissue would you expect to find where the ribs meet
the spine, and where the ribs meet the sternum? Explain why it is
important that this tissue is present.
Sometime the nervous control of breathing fails (perhaps because
the brain control centre is damaged). If this happens, an artificial
ventilator may be needed. Explain how this machine works.

© OUP: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute