- The muscular system is made up of muscles and tendons.
- Muscles make up about 40% of a person's weight.
- The muscular system is made up of muscle tissue.
- Some muscles are big like those in the legs and arms. Some are small like those in the eyes and face.
- Muscles have all kinds of shapes—some muscles are wide sheets like those in the abdomen, some are long and thin like those in the limbs.
- Other muscles are circular muscles like those around the mouth and eyes.
- There are three different types of muscles: skeletal, smooth, and cardiac.
- Skeletal muscles move bones.
- Smooth muscles are called involuntary muscles because you don’t control them. Sometimes there are called visceral muscles.
- Two types of muscles are voluntary—you have to consciously decide to make them move. These include skeletal muscles.
- Cardiac muscles are found in the heart.
- Your heart beats about 100,000 times per minute. Over your lifetime, the heart will beat over 2.5 billion times.
- Smooth muscles are in your stomach and intestines and inside the walls of arteries, veins, and blood vessels.
- The esophagus muscles take over from the throat muscles and work to squeeze the food down toward the stomach.
- There are smooth muscles that run longitudinally (down the length of the esophagus) and in a circular pattern around it.
- Ligaments connect bone to bone.
- Tendons connect muscle to bone.
- The function of a ligament is to hold bones together at joints and provide stability.
- The function of a tendon is to transmit the force of muscle contraction to the bone to produce movement.
- Locate the following muscle groups: biceps, triceps, deltoid, pectoral, abdominal, quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, gastrocnemius, soleus.
Parent Tip: Review the logic above to help your child master the concept of muscular system worksheet for high school.
