Introduction

In 1989 I took a job as a Health Education Outreach specialist at the Roper Mountain Science Center in Greenville, South Carolina. Working with Kate Freeman, who was in charge of developing the newly launched Outreach program, I helped create several lessons that were delivered to elementary schools throughout Upstate South Carolina. One of these lessons focused on the human hand. Though our hand lesson was well-crafted, it did not capture the attention of teachers. Requests for this class were few so it was soon dropped from our repertoire. My interest in studying the human hand lingered and I slowly began acquiring educational materials and activities on the topic. Eventually I used these to create a summer science program called "Handtastic" which I present to students who have completed grades 3-5. Each year the class varies a bit depending on what intrigues me but the basics remain the same. This blog is a spot for me to organize and archive my storehouse of knowledge on the human hand. Currently, I hold the position of Health Curator at the Science Center where my fascination with "handy" things began. I hope a few people will find the human hand as interesting as I do.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Male or Female?


There is a memorable episode of the TV sitcom Seinfeld in which Jerry dates a woman with "man hands." I'm sure you can create a pretty clear picture of "man hands" in your mind. (Jerry didn't find them very attractive.)

What if you could just see the bones of one hand? Would you be looking at the hand of a male or a female? Is there a way to tell? The correct answer is: Maybe.

In a favorite activity book of mine,The Great Bone Mysteries (see "Resources"), the author describes how forensic scientists or crime scene investigators might tell if a skeleton is male or female. The easiest way to tell is by examining the pelvis, but if you have just a hand, the answer is not as clear.

This picture of the hand bones is a left hand, palm side up. The eight bones that form a cluster near the wrist are called carpals. The five bones which create the palm of the hand are metacarpals. The fourteen bones of the thumb and fingers are called phalanges. That makes 27 all together in one adult hand. (The number is different in young children.)

Turn your hand palm side up and compare the length of your index (pointer) finger with the length of the ring finger on the same hand. Which one looks longer? Typically (but not always) a female hand has an index finger that is longer than the ring finger. In a male, the ring finger is usually the longer of the two. So.... do you have "man hands?"
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